November 13, 2023
We are just four days away from a government shutdown and over the weekend, the new House Speaker finally revealed his plan to keep the government open. And if it’s passed it’ll avoid a government shutdown this week – but would automatically give us two more!!!
But does it even have a chance of being passed?
Well – let’s talk about it. Let’s start by talking about this interesting new approach from the House Speaker.
It’s what’s called a clean laddered CR. You’re probably wondering what the hell is that. Great question. I’m gonna tell you…
First – let’s talk about the word clean. A clean bill – in this context means the Speaker’s proposal keeps government spending status quo, it does not include any funding cuts or funding increases. That means it does not include extra funding for Israel, Ukraine, the border or for the people of Maui or other victims of other natural disasters.
A CR – is a continuing resolution. That is a bill that would temporarily keep the government funded for a certain amount of time. It is not a full government funding plan – which was actually supposed to be done on September 30th. In essence –a continuing resolution kicks the can down the road and sets us up for another government shutdown on another date. We see this all the time.
But what’s unusual about Speaker Johnson’s proposal is the laddered part – or two step part. The House Speaker is suggesting – instead of temporarily funding the entire government until a certain date – he wants to fund the military and veterans’ programs, agriculture and food agencies, and the departments of Transportation and Housing and Urban Development through January 19. The remaining government funding for the State department, Justice, Commerce, Labor and Health and Human Services departments, among others — would expire on February 2. That means, if Congress doesn’t come up with a funding plan for the first section of agencies by January 19th, those agencies would shut down and the rest would stay open. So while the government is partially shutdown – Congress will have to figure out how to get those agencies back open and find a way to fund the rest of the agencies before February 2nd when the rest of the agencies shut down.
So – will this thing pass? At this point – it’s unclear. There are already conservative Republicans lining up against this plan, the White House calls it “unserious” and a “recipe for more Republican chaos.” Now – House Democrats haven’t officially said whether they would support it or not – but the reality is – with more than a handful of house Republicans already opposed, Speaker Johnson is going to need Democrat support if he wants to keep the government open after Friday. We’ll start to see test votes on this tomorrow.
Read the proposed bill here.
