By Scott Wong and Julie Tsirkin - NBC News
House Republicans on Saturday introduced a stopgap bill to keep the government funded and avoid a dramatic shutdown as soon as next weekend. However, with only five working days of work in Congress, lawmakers have a narrow margin to get it wrong.
In his first two-and-a-half weeks on the job, the new speaker of the House of Representatives, Republican Mike Johnson, introduced a staggered continuing resolution (CR) bill, instead of the typical extension of funding that covers the entire federal government. This approach seeks to appease far-right Republicans.
The House is expected to vote as soon as Tuesday to give its members 72 hours to read the bill, according to two sources familiar with the matter. The plan does not include budget cuts or aid to Israel.
Under Johnson's two-phase strategy, several spending bills that are needed to keep the government open would go on a short-term bill until Jan. 19, while the rest would have to wait until Feb. 2.
The plan is designed to avoid a shutdown just before the Christmas holidays and give Johnson and House Republicans more time to pass the various bills, but also to create a sense of urgency with staggered funding.
However, it remains to be seen whether the plan can pass in the House of Representatives, and then in the Democratic-controlled Senate, which has discarded Johnson's two-pronged approach.
[House Republicans subpoena Hunter Biden to testify]
"I think we'll avoid shutdown," Johnson told the New York Post earlier this week.
The phased plan has the backing of the most conservative members of Congress, including Republicans who normally never vote in favor of stopgap bills. If Johnson were to get a temporary funding bill through with only Republican votes, he would score a first victory among conservatives.