House Republicans are planning to move forward with a last-minute deal to advance three separate single-subject bills to extend government funding and provide disaster relief, with lawmakers rushing to finalize spending legislation hours before the shutdown deadline.
Lawmakers are poised to vote on a bill to fund the government until mid-March 2025 in addition to two separate measures to provide disaster relief and farmers’ assistance, multiple sources familiar with the plan told the Washington Examiner. That plan simply divides the latest CR proposal into three separate parts rather than advancing them all together in one bill, which prompted opposition from some lawmakers.
However, the latest funding deal drops a demand from President-elect Donald Trump to suspend the debt ceiling for two years, instead entering an agreement they would deal with the debt limit when Congress reconvenes next year.
Lawmakers involved with talks say details are still fluid and that the legislation must still be discussed with the full GOP conference before it is moved forward. Republicans are set to meet in a closed-door conference meeting Friday afternoon.
It is not yet clear how House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) plans to move the new legislation through the House. He could advance it through the Rules Committee, which would then only require a simple majority vote on the floor to pass the lower chamber.
That way, Johnson would not need to rely on a significant number of Democrats, who, in recent days, have refused to support any funding legislation other than the original bipartisan spending deal that was scrapped earlier this week. However, Democrats could be warming up to the new idea, and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) told members in a closed-door caucus meeting Friday morning that lines of communication have been reopened with GOP leadership — signaling some sort of cooperation.
