On Tuesday, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell revealed that Congress will have to pass another stopgap to avoid a government shutdown, but this effort is expected to meet some resistance in the House as Speaker Mike Johnson shows an unwillingness to commit.
“Obviously, we’re going to have to pass a (continuing resolution),” McConnell of Kentucky told reporters on Tuesday. He added it would be up to the House speaker and the Senate majority leader to determine the length of such a measure.
Senate Republican Whip John Thune, S.D., said it would be “unrealistic” for Congress to pass the spending package that congressional leaders agreed upon over the weekend before the two fast-approaching deadlines.
The first is Jan. 19, when funding for federal programs related to transportation, housing, agriculture, energy, veterans and military construction runs out, followed by Feb. 2, when the stopgap bill balancing other programs, including defense, expires.
“We ought to allow some time to do some work on the other bills and, if there is a CR (continuing resolution), maybe in the March timeframe,” Thune told reporters, as CNN reported.
Congress has shored up efforts to find a way out of the gridlock, where Republicans are adamant on immigration policy reform that Democrats have no interest in passing.
At a press conference Tuesday, the minority whip said the only way out is for the left to consider “serious, meaningful policy changes that reduce the flow (of migrants) and regain operation control of the southern border.”
“Absent that, there’s not going to be a package that passes here,” Thune added.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., struck an agreement over a $1.59 trillion topline for fiscal year 2024 on Sunday. They also made a side deal of roughly $70 million.
While this is a step forward, the Senate is still working to produce a legislative text for the border deal. Sen. James Lankford, R-Texas, who has been the lead negotiator in the spending deal, told reporters a deal will likely be released next week. “We just didn’t make progress as fast as I hoped we would,” he said, indicating that a continuing resolution will be necessary.
But Speaker Johnson hasn’t said if he will stand behind a stopgap bill. Instead, “the pedal’s to the metal” on the top-line agreement.
Back in November, the speaker was firm about future short-term spending bills: “I’m done with short-term CRs,” he said.
The speaker negotiated a $30 billion reduction in the Democrat-controlled Senate’s proposed appropriations. Of the newly struck agreement, he said, “I inherited this situation,” in an interview with Fox Business Network Tuesday.
“This is a step forward. It’s not what we want, it’s not everything we want, but remember, we have a one to two vote margin in just one chamber of the legislative branch,” Johnson said. “I mean, this is the best we could do right now.”