House passes GOP funding bill to avert government shutdown

House Speaker Mike Johnson speaks in the House chamber after his election at the U.S. Capitol on October 25, in Washington, DC.

Newly elected House Speaker Mike Johnson announced a two-step plan for funding the government on a GOP conference call with members Saturday afternoon. “I wasn’t the architect of the mess we are in,” he argued, according to a source on the call.

The House is expected to vote on the plan on the floor this afternoon. Two-thirds of the House will have to support the bill for it to pass.

While Johnson embraced the right-wing members of his conference by pitching the two-step approach, he didn’t fully cave to their wishes. The package does not include the deep spending cuts his right flank pushed for but instead extends funding at its current levels.

Here’s how the plan would work:

Neither bill includes additional aid for Israel or Ukraine.

The two-step approach was widely pushed by Republican hardliners but dismissed by many senators as a complicated solution that would be hard to execute. Still, given that funding for the agencies would stay at current levels, it could be harder for Democrats to reject.

A Senate Democratic leadership aide signaled their openness to Johnson’s funding plan, telling CNN, “It’s a good thing the speaker didn’t include unnecessary cuts and kept defense funding with the second group of programs.”

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, however, cast Johnson’s plan as “a recipe for more Republican chaos and more shutdowns – full stop.”

“House Republicans need to stop wasting time on their own political divisions, do their jobs, and work in a bipartisan way to prevent a shutdown,” Jean-Pierre said in a statement.

Ahead of the conference call Saturday, Republicans had been weighing multiple options, including a more straightforward stopgap bill with some added sweeteners along with the more complicated two-step approach Johnson is pitching. The conference has been divided over which option to pursue, with appropriators in favor of a “clean” stopgap bill and members of the Freedom Caucus pushing the laddered approach.

Keep reading about the plan here.

House Republicans are largely in agreement that Speaker Mike Johnson’s funding bill will clear the chamber later Tuesday, despite some strong opposition within their own ranks on the actual continuing resolution (CR) itself.

“Nobody wants a shutdown. And maybe even the people who are frustrated don’t want to shut down. They just have differing degree in tactics,” North Dakota Rep. Kelly Armstrong said.

House Republicans are also mostly aligned that Speaker Mike Johnson will be spared the same fate that felled his predecessor following the passage of the last CR.

Armstrong suggested the ousting of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy would have happened with or without the passage of the September continuing resolution.

“I think that the clean CR was an excuse to oust McCarthy. There was a lot of bad blood that existed prior to all of that,” Armstrong said, but he’s spared Johnson from the inability of the House to pass standalone spending bills and then conference them with the Senate. “We stepped on a rake. We kind of put ourselves in this position. It’s pretty hard to negotiate with the Senate when you can’t get your own appropiations bills off the floor.”

And, they argue, even the new continuing resolution buys them time to do what they consider their primary goal – funding the government with individual funding bills.

“Republicans fully intend on funding the government. We’re doing it in a staggered way for the first time because we believe that is better for all parties to break it into two, knowing that it’s going to take time to get it done,” California Rep. Darrell Issa said.

Even some of the more conservative House Republicans who are opposed to the new continuing resolution – and who voted to oust McCarthy — are willing to spare Johnson their ire.

“He’s had two weeks to pass it. His predecessor had had since January, and then he jammed us up against the September 30 deadline,” Rep. Tim Burchett said, but suggested Johnson has one saving grace that McCarthy doesn’t. “I’ll just tell you that Speaker Johnson hasn’t lied to me. That’s a good thing.”

GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz is filing a formal ethics complaint against Kevin McCarthy over an altercation he said he had with Rep. Tim Burchett this morning, according to a copy of the document obtained by CNN – the latest sign of escalating tension between McCarthy and his critics in the wake of his unprecedented ouster.

Burchett accused McCarthy of shoving him and elbowing him in the back in a hallway outside a GOP conference meeting. McCarthy denied the interaction was intentional, telling CNN it was a “tight hallway.” Burchett disputed that, and said there was “plenty of room” in the hallway.

Gaetz – who has been one of McCarthy’s chief antagonists and led the push to oust him as speaker – did not witness the interaction, but anyone can file a complaint to the House Ethics Committee. Burchett, however, said he did not plan to file a complaint, but Gaetz said they still have a “duty to investigate” and accused McCarthy of violating the members code of conduct.

“Needless to say, this incident deserves immediate and swift investigation by the Ethics Committee. This Congress has seen a substantial increase in breaches of decorum unlike anything we have seen since the pre-Civil War era,” Gaetz wrote in the letter to the House Ethics Committee. “I myself have been a victim of outrageous conduct on the House floor as well, but nothing like an open and public assault on a Member, committed by another Member. The rot starts at the top. 

Both Gaetz and Burchett were among the eight Republicans who voted remove McCarthy as speaker, and McCarthy recently unloaded on the group in an interview with CNN’s Manu Raju, with McCarthy especially singling out Gaetz and noting Gaetz is under investigation by the House Ethics Committee.

Now, Gaetz is elevating their feud even further with this latest complaint.

Mike Johnson speaks at the Capitol Building on Tuesday.

House Speaker Mike Johnson defended his approach to avert a government shutdown and insisted his handling of the situation differs from former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, for which he was ousted, insisting his speakership is no less secure despite this move. 

Johnson confirmed he will head to the floor this afternoon and use Democratic votes to pass his stopgap measure, but vowed he is “done with short-term” continuing resolutions — a big promise that will set up a nasty fight down the line. 

The new speaker defended his approach on the short-term measure, saying he is not giving in.

“We’re not surrendering, we’re fighting. But you have to be wise about choosing the fights,” he said.

“You got to fight fights that you can win,” he added.

Johnson also vowed to never pass a short-term continuing resolution in the future and touted his two-step approach as an “innovation.” 

“The House Republican Conference is committed to never be in this situation again,” he said.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he is “heartened, cautiously so” at the pending spending bill that the House will take up today, saying that it seems to avoid many of the poison pills that has doomed other spending bills in the Senate. 

Schumer says he “doesn’t imagine too many senators would have taken the speaker’s approach in drafting this bill” but says that it will avert a shutdown, and does so without cuts to spending.

“I hope the speaker does not yield to the demands of the hard right as we try to keep the government open. Instead I hope that the Speaker continues to recognize he will need democratic votes in order to avoid a shutdown,” he said.

Rep. Tim Burchett speaks with reporters outside the Capitol Building on Tuesday.

In a sign of how tense the dynamics are in the House Republican conference, GOP Rep. Tim Burchett accused Kevin McCarthy of elbowing him in the back while he was talking to a reporter after the party’s conference meeting Tuesday morning.

Burchett told CNN that while he was speaking with a reporter in the hallway outside the meeting, McCarthy shoved by him as he walked passed with his security detail. Burchett said he then chased after McCarthy and the two had a conversation. 

McCarthy denied the incident to CNN’s Melanie Zanona and said “I didn’t shove or elbow him, it’s a tight hallway.” In lengthy remarks to reporters later in the day, he again denied he hit Burchett but said he will reach out to him to discuss the incident. 

Burchett, who was one of the eight Republicans who voted to oust McCarthy, has been heavily critical of the former speaker and the alleged altercation is the latest sign of the pressure cooker environment in the House GOP right now.

Speaking to CNN again later in the day, Burchett slammed McCarthy for being a “bully,” as he described his altercation with the former House GOP leader, saying he elbowed him in the kidneys.

“I got elbowed in the back and it kind of caught me off guard because it was a clean shot to the kidneys,” Burchett told CNN’s Manu Raju. “And I turned back (and) there, there was Kevin, and for a minute, I was kind of what the heck just happened and then chased after him, of course.”

“Now he’s the type of guy that when you’re a kid would throw a rock over the fence and run home and hide behind his mama’s skirt,” he added.

Burchett said McCarthy brushed him off when he went to confront him about the altercation. He added that he “raised his voice” and that McCarthy responded back to him with “that high pitched kind of thing.” 

“Of course, as he always did, does, he just denies it or blames somebody else or something. And … it was just a little heated. But I just backed off because – I saw no reason. I wasn’t gaining anything from it. Everybody saw it. So it didn’t really matter,” he told CNN. 

When asked about McCarthy’s denials and his claim that the hallway was tight and it was an accident, Burchett said it wasn’t a serious explanation.

“There’s 435 congressmen, I was one of the eight that voted against him. That hallway was — there’s plenty of room, you could walk four side-by-side. He chose to do what he did. And you know, it’ll end right here. I’m sure it’ll just be a little asterisk on his storied career,” he said. 

The Tennessee Republican also accused the former speaker of using his substantial campaign war chest to interfere in members’ races and that he believes McCarthy – who has not yet said whether he will stay in the House – will be gone by the next Congress. 

More background: It has gotten tense between the two Republican lawmakers in recent weeks. McCarthy told CNN he was surprised Burchett was one of the eight House Republicans to vote to oust him from his speakership.

In the lead up to the vote, Burchett revealed that McCarthy was condescending about his statement that he was praying about whether to vote to oust McCarthy or not. 

The altercation also comes as tensions are at an all-time high in the House, as members have been in session for 10 weeks straight. House Speaker Mike Johnson said at his news conference on Tuesday that the Thanksgiving break will allow members to return home and “cool off.”

House Democrats are signaling they will support the Republican short-term funding bill after their caucus meeting this morning as it does not have spending cuts or right-wing policy proposals tacked on. 

But House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is still not tipping his hand. Jeffries said Democrats are still “evaluating” as a caucus and he’s been in regular touch with House Speaker Mike Johnson. He did not disclose what message he’s sent to the speaker. 

When asked if the spending bill would pass in the House today, he said “that remains to be seen.”

Democratic rank-and-file lawmakers however were more direct.

“I think there is a general view that we came out on top,” Democratic Rep. Dan Goldman said while leaving the party’s caucus meeting. 

Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal, the leader of the progressive caucus, also said she thought it was a victory for Democrats. She didn’t make a final decision and said the progressive caucus is meeting later today to discuss it, but she signaled a strong willingness to back something that didn’t include spending cuts.

House Appropriations ranking member

In the closed-door meeting, Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the House Appropriations ranking member, told her colleagues that Democrats should be trying to get some commitments from Johnson on what future spending levels on various agencies are going to be moving forward.

Her message to her colleagues was: “We can’t be a cheap date.”

A source familiar with the internal conversations told CNN that part of the reason that Democrats are being coy and not outright saying they will back the bill is that private conversations are still happening to try and figure out if any progress can be made on future spending levels.

Rep. Mike Johnson casts his vote as the House of Representatives holds an election for a new Speaker of the House at the Capitol on October 25, in Washington, DC.

Rep. Mike Johnson, who was elected as the new speaker of the GOP-led House in October, has been a vocal supporter of former President Donald Trump and was a key congressional figure in the failed efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

His speakership — and ability to pass a new funding bill — will face a major test today as the House is expected to vote on legislation this afternoon to avert a government shutdown.

The Louisiana Republican was first elected to the House in 2016 and served as vice chairman of the House Republican Conference, as well as GOP deputy whip, an assistant leadership role.

An attorney with a focus on constitutional law, Johnson joined a group of House Republicans in voting to sustain the objection to electoral votes on January 6, 2021. During Trump’s first impeachment trial in January 2020, Johnson, along with a group of other GOP lawmakers, served a largely ceremonial role in Trump’s Senate impeachment team.

Johnson also sent an email from a personal email account in 2020 to every House Republican soliciting signatures for an amicus brief in the longshot Texas lawsuit seeking to invalidate electoral college votes from multiple states.

After the election was called in favor of Joe Biden on November 7, 2020, Johnson posted on X, then known as Twitter, “I have just called President Trump to say this: ‘Stay strong and keep fighting, sir! The nation is depending upon your resolve. We must exhaust every available legal remedy to restore Americans’ trust in the fairness of our election system.’”

Although Trump said he wouldn’t endorse anyone in the speaker’s race Wednesday, he leant support to Johnson in a post on Truth Social.

“In 2024, we will have an even bigger, & more important, WIN! My strong SUGGESTION is to go with the leading candidate, Mike Johnson, & GET IT DONE, FAST!” Trump posted.

Johnson serves on the Judiciary Committee and the Armed Services Committee. He is also a former chair of the Republican Study Committee.

After receiving a degree in business administration from Louisiana State University and a Juris Doctorate from the Paul M. Hebert Law Center, Johnson took on roles as a college professor and conservative talk radio host. He began his political career in the Louisiana legislature, where he served from 2015 to 2017, before being elected to Congress in Louisiana’s Fourth District.

Read more about Johnson.

In a GOP conference meeting behind closed doors, Speaker Mike Johnson’s spending plan is facing criticism from some members of the House Freedom Caucus since it lacks spending cuts. 

But multiple attendees say that Johnson is pushing back and saying that his approach will avoid Congress being forced into a bad spending deal right before the holidays.

Additionally, he has challenged his colleagues to explain how they would avoid a shutdown or detail a plan to get out of one if they can’t pass a stop-gap bill.

Earlier Tuesday, the House Freedom Caucus, a group of roughly 30 hardliners, took an official position against Johnson’s plan.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill November 9, in Washington, DC. 

Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries told reporters that he is about to have a family conversation with his caucus about how to proceed with House Speaker Mike Johnson’s short-term spending bill. 

Jeffries left the door open but didn’t commit to backing it as he entered a Democratic caucus meeting, saying that it was important the bill didn’t make spending cuts, which had been a redline for Democrats. 

“We are open minded,” he said.

Asked by CNN if he was happy the bill was clean, the minority leader replied, “That was an important point for us that any continuing resolution be funded at the fiscal 2023 year levels.”

Remember: Johnson is still facing a rebellion from his right wing as conservatives have criticized his plan and vowed to vote against it, leaving him in a position where he will likely need Democratic votes to pass the bill before the Friday deadline.