Eight Days To Avoid Government Shutdown: What's The Plan?

Congress has until Nov. 17 to approve a legislation to avoid a government shutdown. So far, House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican who has been in the post for a little more than two weeks, has not presented a proposal.

Johnson has held closed-door meetings with his conference to discuss alternatives.

"I'm not going to show you all the cards right now," the speaker told reporters on Nov. 7. "We have some positive discussions going on."

He had previously said that one of the possibilities is passing a new stopgap measure to extend government funding through January. Another alternative under discussion is a so-called "laddered" continuing resolution that would fund parts of the government until early December and the rest until mid-January.

Some Republican lawmakers are pushing for more cuts in government spending and additional funds for border security.

"Federal government is once again at risk of shutting down because extreme MAGA Republicans in the House are apparently determined to do just that," House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Thursday. "House Democrats aren't going to pay a single right-wind ransom demand."

Jeffries, a Democrat from New York, is calling for a continuing resolution that sets government spending at the same level as the 2023 fiscal year, which ended in September.

The challenge for Johnson is to find a solution for government funding that won't put him in the same position as his predecessor.

Senate action

Legislative activity in the House of Representatives was essentially paralyzed from Oct. 3, when Kevin McCarthy was ousted from the speaker position. He angered members of his own party by working on a bipartisan stopgap measure that averted a government shutdown on Oct. 1.

Republicans finally reached a consensus to elect Johnson to the speaker post on Oct. 25.

Parallel to the talks in the House, the Democrat-controlled Senate is also working on a spending plan that would fund the government at current levels and include President Joe Biden's $106 billion request for aid to Israel, Ukraine, humanitarian support for Gaza and also border security.

"Today, I'm taking the first procedural step to the Senate to move forward on a legislative vehicle we can use next week to pass a temporary extension to avoid a government shutdown over the next few days," Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Thursday in a speech on the Senate floor. "I implore Speaker Johnson and our House Republican colleagues to learn from the fiasco of a month ago. Hard right proposals, hard right, slashing cuts, hard right, poison pills that have zero support from Democrats will only make a shutdown more likely."