Congressional leaders have agreed on a short-term spending deal that will avoid another government shutdown until March.
The agreement will allow funding through to March 1 and March 8 and will allow for more time to craft longer-term, agency specific spending bills, according to a source familiar with the situation.
It comes are Republican hardliners threatened to derail talks ahead of the first funding deadline of January 19.
House Speaker Mike Johnson previously agreed a deal with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer that would fund the government in fiscal year 2024 at a $1.6 trillion level.
The stopgap bill will now have to pass both the House and Senate before midnight on January 19 to avoid a partial government shutdown.
Congressional leaders have agreed on a short-term spending deal that will avoid another government shutdown until March
House Speaker Mike Johnson (pictured) previously agreed a deal with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer that would fund the government in fiscal year 2024 at a $1.6 trillion level
The short-term bill, which is known as a continuing resolution, will run to March 1 for some federal agencies whose approved funds are set to run out Friday and extend the remainder of government operations to March 8.
House speaker Johnson will reportedly hold a call with fellow House Republicans on Sunday at 8pm to speak about spending negotiations.
He has been under pressure from his hard-right flank in recent days to drop a recent bipartisan spending deal with Senate Democrats.
The bill would need Democratic support to pass the narrowly divided House.
Johnson insisted Friday that he is sticking with the deal he struck with Senate Majority Leader Schumer, despite pressure from some conservatives to renegotiate. Moderates in the party had urged him to stay the course.
‘Our top-line agreement remains,’ Johnson said Friday, referring to the budget accord reached on January 7.
‘We are getting our next steps together, and we are working towards a robust appropriations process.’
Johnson prompted the ire of conservatives when he worked out a deal with Senate Majority Leader Schumer that would fund the government in fiscal year 2024 at a $1.6 trillion level.
Hardline Freedom Caucus Republicans decried the deal that they said would spend too much and did not include border security.
Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., a Freedom Caucus member who got into a heated conversation with Johnson on the House floor, suggested that he’d gotten rolled by Schumer with the deal.
‘My only lament for the speaker is that he has actually fallen into the trap of being up against a deadline and playing this game on Chuck Schumer’s terms,’ he told reporters, adding that his ‘confidence is waning’ in the speaker.
Some floated the idea of firing Johnson with a motion to vacate, the new speaker spent Thursday meeting with the disgruntled hardliners.
Rep. Bob Good, R-Va., chair of the Freedom Caucus, said there ‘was 100% consensus in the room with everyone who was meeting with the speaker that the deal is terrible for the country.’
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., said filing a motion to vacate ‘could be something’ if Johnson continues to cut deals with Democrats, or passes more funding to Ukraine.
Johnson prompted the ire of conservatives when he worked out a deal with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (pictured) that would fund the government in fiscal year 2024 at a $1.6 trillion level
Hardline Freedom Caucus Republicans decried the deal that they said would spend too much and did not include border security
‘If those deals are going to be made, then absolutely that’s on the table.’
Now, some have turned their fight to attaching border security to the must-pass spending deal – and aren’t afraid to shut down the government to do so.
Attaching border provisions would further risk throwing the government into turmoil.
Moderate Republicans, meanwhile, are frustrated with their right-wing colleagues and urge Johnson to stick to the deal he made.
‘The regular order crowd, those who don’t like drama and dumpster fires, our concern is that maybe you get to see more mob rule,’ one Republican member said.
‘Their temperatures are getting up pretty high,’ the member added. ‘They hope Speaker Johnson upset the applecart too much. the reality is if you cut a deal you cut a deal. It’s gonna be pretty tough to wiggle out of that now.’
‘A deal’s a deal and it’s already been made and we’ve got to stick with it,’ Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick R-Pa., told DailyMail.com. ‘It’s already been announced.’
‘It seems like when you make a deal, you make a deal,’ added Rep. Lori Chavez-Deremer, R-Wash.
The situation called to mind the spending saga under Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who ultimately gave up on working with hardline Republicans and put a negotiated continuing resolution (CR) on the floor.
He lost his job for backing the CR as his own GOP colleagues voted to boot him from the speakership in October.
‘This is like a movie repeating itself,’ Rep. Juan Ciscomani, R-Ariz., said. ‘The frustrating thing is that the end of the day is that whatever the deal is, they’ll probably vote against it anyway.’
Members have also grown frustrated with the motion to vacate threats.
‘I don’t scream if I’m in the operating room and don’t have the right equipment, I make it work,’ said Rep. Greg Murphy, R-N.C., a former surgeon.