Speaker Mike Johnson is trying to muscle through a stopgap spending bill to avert a government shutdown, but he doesn’t have the votes locked down yet.
President Donald Trump is pressing the small group of GOP holdouts to fall in line ahead of the Friday shutdown deadline, and House Democratic leaders are whipping all their members to vote against the bill that would fund the government through September.
“I don’t think House Republicans should expect any Democratic votes to get them over the line,” said one person familiar with ongoing conversations among moderate House Democrats, who was granted anonymity to speak candidly.
If only Republicans vote for the stopgap bill — known as a continuing resolution or a CR — and there’s full attendance, Johnson can’t afford to lose more than one GOP lawmaker. The speaker predicted Monday afternoon that “the CR will pass,” citing that “no one wants to shut the government down.”
The hard no: Rep. Thomas Massie is the only House Republican who has definitively said he will not vote to pass the stopgap spending bill — and stuck to it.
The undecideds: Reps. Cory Mills (R-Fla.) and Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) have said they’re on the fence. The speaker and Trump are pushing fiscal hawks who normally oppose stopgap spending bills to get behind this one, with the promise of funding cuts later on this year.
Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) have also indicated they’re undecided, but that they’re likely open to supporting the measure.
The flips: Rep. Michael Cloud (R-Texas), who GOP leaders were watching as a possible holdout, came out this weekend in favor of the plan, after Trump called for Republicans to support it. Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-Ind.) has also indicated that she’ll back it. And the House Freedom Caucus, which usually opposes stopgap funding bills on principle, have supported this plan.
House GOP leaders are planning to move the funding bill through the Rules Committee Monday evening. Senior Republicans don’t expect any GOP amendments or major changes to the measure. Johnson is aiming to put the funding bill on the House floor late Tuesday afternoon, according to two people familiar with the matter.
