House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) will need every Republican vote he can get to pass his stopgap funding bill to avoid a government shutdown by Friday — but not everyone is on board with the spending.
The continuing resolution, unveiled by Johnson on Saturday and endorsed by President Donald Trump, would keep the government funded until the fiscal year ends on September 30, the Hill reported.
Trump called the funding bill “very good,” given the “circumstances,” in a Truth Social post:
“All Republicans should vote (Please!) YES next week,” the president wrote, shortly after Johnson introduced the bill. “Great things are coming for America, and I am asking you all to give us a few months to get us through to September so we can continue to put the Country’s ‘financial house’ in order.”
“Democrats will do anything they can to shut down our Government, and we can’t let that happen,” Trump continued. “We have to remain UNITED — NO DISSENT — Fight for another day when the timing is right. VERY IMPORTANT. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
In order to pass the bill before the Friday deadline, Johnson has indicated that he will bring it to the floor for a vote early this week, according to NBC News.
While it looks like Johnson will need near-unanimity amongst Republicans to support his bill, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) has vocally opposed it.
Massie, who has repeatedly strayed from fellow Republicans when it comes to spending bills, refused to support Johnson in his January speakership vote following his failure to initially negotiate a clean continuing resolution (CR).
The Kentucky congressman told Breitbart News in an exclusive interview in February that most of his colleagues “aren’t serious about cutting spending.”
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) is also against the stopgap bill, complaining that it would continue “to fund the very foreign aid” that Elon Musk “proposes to cut” with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), and that it “will add $2T to the debt this year”:
“Rand is correct. I’m a No as well on this CR,” Massie replied on X.
Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) told the Hill on Sunday that he was still undecided on the measure, while Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) said on CBS’s Face the Nation, “like most bills, there’s some good in there, there’s some not so good in there,” adding that he is also undecided.
Meanwhile on CNN’s State of the Union, Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-TX), said that he would make a “game-time decision” on whether or not he will support Johnson’s measure.
If the bill makes it to the Senate, they will need several Democrats to vote in its favor to clear the 60-vote threshold to send it to Trump’s desk — and they will have to do that without Paul’s support.
The only Democrat who has indicated possible support for the bill so far is Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA), according to the Hill.
