House Voting on 3-Month Funding Extension to Prevent Government Shutdown

Government Funding Crisis Averted?

The House is set to vote Wednesday on a stopgap measure to keep the government funded for three months, after Speaker Mike Johnson embraced a clean temporary funding measure that will need support from Democrats to pass. Last week, the House rejected Johnson’s initial funding plan, which would have kept the government funded for around six months and was paired with a noncitizen voting measure that Democrats viewed as a nonstarter.

Speaker Johnson’s Strategy

After the setback, driven in part by members of his own party, the speaker said he would opt to bring up a vote on a measure to extend funding through Dec. 20 without the voting proposal instead of risking a government shutdown weeks ahead of Election Day.

Challenges Ahead for the Funding Bill

However, on Monday, Johnson faced another challenge when the stopgap measure failed to secure enough support on the House Rules Committee, forcing House leadership to bring the funding bill for a floor vote under suspension of the rules—a process that requires support from two-thirds of the chamber for passage. Johnson said on Tuesday that he anticipates the continuing resolution to pass, but the support from both parties will be crucial.