By Stephen Groves and Kevin Freking — The Associated Press
With just one week left to avert a government shutdown, new House Speaker Mike Johnson faces his first big test as he tries to drum up Republican support for a short-term funding plan, a task that looks increasingly difficult amid stubborn divisions in the party over federal spending.
Meanwhile, government agencies are bracing for a possible shutdown, which would suspend paychecks for millions of federal workers and military troops.
Johnson, who took office just two weeks ago, has said he wants to avoid the disruption to government activities that a shutdown would bring. However, House lawmakers left Washington over the weekend without a plan in hand after several setbacks.
[Time is running out to avoid a government shutdown that could affect it in these ways]
Republicans were unanimous in electing Mike Johnson as speaker of the House of Representatives following McCarthy's impeachment. Drew Angerer/Getty Images
The House leader is still canvassing Republican support for what to do and is expected to unveil short-term funding legislation over the weekend, according to Republicans who were granted anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.
The looming deadline to reach a deal gives Johnson, a Louisiana Republican who has jumped from the lower ranks of GOP leadership to the office of president, a narrow window to corral an unpredictable GOP conference.
"We're racing against the clock on Nov. 17, and we're obviously aware of that," Johnson said this week, referring to the date when government funding expires. "But we're going to get the job done."
A divided party
Hardline Conservatives, who generally loathe to support temporary spending measures of any kind, had indicated they would give Johnson some leeway to pass legislation, known as a continuing resolution, to give Congress more time to negotiate a long-term deal.
In October, Congress passed a 47-day continuing resolution, but the consequences were severe for Johnson's predecessor. Kevin McCarthy was ousted from the presidency days later and the House was effectively paralyzed for most of the month as Republicans tried to elect a replacement.
Republicans were ultimately unanimous in electing Johnson as president, but his rise has not eased the dynamic that led to McCarthy's ouster: a conference divided on both policy and how much to spend on federal programs.
This week, Republicans had to pull two spending bills — one to fund transportation and housing programs and the other to fund the Treasury Department, the Small Business Administration and other agencies — from the floor because they didn't have the votes in their own party to push them through the house.
"I thought we were going to show the speaker a little bit of grace," said frustrated Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, as he left the Capitol Thursday after the final votes of the week. "I think it seems like we're still confused and we're not united."
Johnson has turned to House Republicans for ideas on how to drum up support for a continuing resolution. He has even floated the idea of a "tiered" approach that would fund some parts of the government until early December and other federal departments until mid-January. He also floated the idea of a funding package that would last until January.
Meanwhile, lawmakers are still looking for a way to negotiate final approval for aid to Israel in its war with Hamas, and Johnson has also proposed the formation of a new federal commission focused on curbing increases in the national debt that threaten the government's ability in the future to fund the military and major entitlement programs on which the elderly and disabled depend.
Democrats have made it clear that they will not support any funding package that includes political victories for conservatives. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the Democratic leader in the House, said they would not "pay a single right-wing bailout demand" as part of a funding resolution.
Democratic lawmakers are also eager to highlight Republican divisions in the House and shift all the blame for the shutdown onto the new president and his Republican colleagues.
"They're a divided, divisive, dysfunctional majority," said Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md. "They can't do their business, to the detriment of Americans."
Senate Takes Action
On the other side of the Capitol, the Democratic-controlled Senate on Thursday took procedural steps that would allow it to adopt a continuing resolution in time to avoid a partial shutdown. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said negotiations could evolve in the coming days, but added that a shutdown cannot be avoided without bipartisan cooperation.
"I implore President Johnson and our Republican colleagues in the House of Representatives to learn from the fiasco of a month ago: far-right proposals, far-right sweeping cuts, far-right poison pills that have no support from Democrats will only make a shutdown more likely," Schumer said. "I hope they don't go down that road next week."
But the Senate is also engaged in delicate negotiations involving changes to border policy and funding for Ukraine. Republican senators have demanded that Congress pass immigration and border laws along with additional aid for Ukraine.
This week, they unveiled a plan to resume construction of parts of the U.S.-Mexico border wall, reduce humanitarian parole for people crossing into the U.S. and make it harder for immigrants to qualify for asylum. That spurred the work of a bipartisan group of senators who are considering a limited set of policy changes that could find favor with both Republicans and Democrats.
"It's still a tightrope act," said Sen. Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat involved in the negotiations.
The official added that the chances of crafting a border bill by next week were slim and stressed that "there's a reason we haven't done bipartisan immigration reform in 40 years."
Meanwhile, a bipartisan group of senators is also pushing for the creation of a debt commission that could be grouped with the continuing resolution, known as "CR" in Washington.
"I think it could show up in the CR," said Sen. Joe Manchin, D-Va. "I think it would be something they could really work with."