House Votes to Extend Government Funding

“We’re not surrendering,” said Johnson. “But you have to choose fights you can win.” (J. Scott Applewhite/Associated Press)

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WASHINGTON — The House voted Nov. 14 to prevent a government shutdown after new Republican Speaker Mike Johnson was forced to reach across the aisle to Democrats when hard-right conservatives revolted against his plan.

The bipartisan tally, 336-95, showed Johnson’s willingness to leave his right-flank Republicans behind and work with Democrats to temporarily keep government running — the same political move that cost the last House speaker, Kevin McCarthy, his job just weeks ago.

This time, Johnson of Louisiana appeared on track for a temporarily better outcome as the House approved the stopgap package to keep the government running into the new year. The Senate would act next, ahead of the Nov. 17 shutdown deadline.

“Making sure that government stays in operation is a matter of conscience for all of us. We owe that to the American people,” Johnson said earlier at a news conference at the Capitol.

But the new Republican leader faced the same political problem that led to McCarthy’s ouster — angry, frustrated, hard-right GOP lawmakers rejecting his approach, demanding budget cuts and determined to vote against the plan. Without enough support from his Republican majority, Johnson had little choice but to rely on Democrats to ensure passage to keep the federal government running.

Shortly before the vote, House Democratic leaders issued a joint statement saying that the package met all their requirements and they would support it.

Under his proposal, Johnson is putting forward a unique — critics say bizarre — two-part process that temporarily funds some federal agencies to Jan. 19 and others to Feb. 2. It’s a continuing resolution, or CR, that comes without any of the deep cuts conservatives have demanded all year. It also fails to include President Joe Biden’s request for nearly $106 billion for Ukraine, Israel, border security and other supplemental funds.

“We’re not surrendering,” Johnson assured after a closed-door meeting of House Republicans in the morning, vowing he would not support another stopgap. “But you have to choose fights you can win.”

Johnson, who announced his endorsement Nov. 14 of Donald Trump as the Republican nominee for president, hit the airwaves to sell his approach and met privately Nov. 13 with the conservative Freedom Caucus.

Johnson says the innovative approach would position House Republicans to “go into the fight” for deeper spending cuts in the new year, but many Republicans are skeptical there will be any better outcome in January.

The House Freedom Caucus announced its opposition, ensuring dozens of votes against the plan.

“I think it’s a very big mistake,” said Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), a member of the hard-right group of lawmakers.

“It’s wrong,” said Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.).

It all left Johnson with few other options than to skip what’s typically a party-only procedural vote, and rely on another process that requires a two-thirds tally with Democrats for passage.

Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries in a letter to colleagues noted that the GOP package met the Democratic demands to keep funding at current levels without steep reductions or divisive Republican policy priorities.

“Extreme MAGA Republicans have repeatedly demonstrated that they cannot govern without House Democrats,” Jeffries said on NPR. “That will be the case this week in the context of avoiding a government shutdown.”

The Senate, where Democrats have a slim majority, has signaled its willingness to accept Johnson’s package ahead of the deadline to fund the government.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell called the House package “a solution” and said he expected it to pass Congress with bipartisan support.

“It’s nice to see us working together to avoid a government shutdown,” he said.

Associated Press writers Kevin Freking and Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this report.