House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) announced a temporary agreement on Sunday night that would keep the government funded until December 20th. The measure does not include any part of the SAVE Act, the election security proposal backed by former President Donald Trump and it would include “only the extensions that are absolutely necessary” to avoid a government shutdown, Johnson said in a letter to House Republicans. It would also speed up existing funding totaling $232 million to the Secret Service, as their protectees are facing heightened threats around the November election. The 12-week extension of federal spending is expected to garner large bipartisan majorities in both chambers and the House will consider the 49-page bill tomorrow with the Senate expected to act shortly after. Congress must act by the end of the month to avoid a partial government shutdown, which top GOP leaders in both chambers argue would benefit no one politically, least of all their party as history has shown.
As part of the CR, Speaker Johnson said this morning that the House will not approve a single, massive omnibus bill to fund the entire government in December — a scenario feared by conservatives — despite the stopgap expiring on December 20th. This would defy historical precedent as Congress has regularly passed omnibus spending bills after a funding deadline butts up against end-of-year holidays, when members are eager to quickly finish legislative business and return home. Speaker Johnson made his final pitch on his bipartisan short-term spending bill to skeptical House Republicans this morning, and It didn’t do much to appease his critics.
The Senate convened at 10:00 A.M. and is expected to consider the nomination of Michael Sfraga to be Ambassador at Large for Arctic Affairs. The Senate will then take up the legislative vehicle for the continuing resolution, H.R.1555 “Corporal Michael D. Anderson Jr. Post Office Building.”
The House met at 10:00 A.M. and is considering H.R. 8790 – Fix Our Forests Act and is also expected to take up 19 bills under suspension of the Rules.
