WASHINGTON — Speaker Mike Johnson and House Republicans voiced confidence Tuesday that they can push through a stopgap funding bill and avert a government shutdown at the end of the week.
Democratic leaders are staunchly opposed to the six-month funding patch, blasting Republicans for pushing a bill they had no part in shaping. But GOP leaders dared Democrats to vote against the bill and risk a shutdown.
“We’ll have the votes. We’re going to pass the [continuing resolution]. We can do it on our own,” Johnson told reporters after huddling with rank-and-file Republicans. “Democrats ought to do the responsible thing, follow their own advice in every previous scenario and keep the government open.”
The vote is scheduled for Tuesday afternoon. If it clears the House, the funding bill would move to the Senate, where it would need 60 votes to break a Democratic filibuster. And that is uncertain.
Money for the federal government runs out late Friday night.
Even if Johnson can pass the funding bill, backed by President Donald Trump, the margin will be tight. Republicans hold a minuscule 218-214 majority in the House, meaning that Johnson can afford only a single GOP defection if all members are present and voting. Conservative Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., has already vowed to vote against it, prompting Trump to threaten to “lead the charge” to oust Massie in his 2026 primary.
Any Democratic absences could hand Johnson and the Republicans a little more breathing room.
But Republicans don’t want to take any chances. Trump and his top aides have been calling undecided Republicans and urging them to back the funding bill, multiple sources told NBC News. And ahead of the vote Tuesday morning, Vice President JD Vance huddled with House Republicans at the Capitol, rallied support for the bill and urged them to stick together.
One positive sign for Johnson: The far-right House Freedom Caucus, which is frequently a thorn in the side of leadership, has endorsed the stopgap bill.
“I’m 100% behind this continuing resolution,” the caucus chairman, Andy Harris, R-Md., said Tuesday during a rare appearance at Johnson’s leadership news conference. “This is not your grandfather’s continuing resolution. This is a different type of spending bill.”
The 99-page bill is not a “clean” funding extension that typically keeps spending at existing levels. The GOP bill increases military spending slightly and also calls for some cuts in nondefense discretionary money, frustrating Democrats. On top of that, Democrats said, Republicans structured the bill to take control away from Congress to fund certain federal programs and hand the Trump administration more flexibility in how to spend the money.
Democrats also want guardrails on Trump and billionaire adviser Elon Musk’s attempts to slash or freeze some federal spending.
“This partisan and reckless Republican spending bill fails to protect Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, which we know are on the Republican chopping block,” said House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., arguing that the funding bill will lay the groundwork for deeper spending cuts in a future reconciliation package. “It represents devastating cuts in an attack on seniors, families and veterans. We cannot support this bill.”
In the Senate, Republicans hold a 53-47 majority. With Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., saying he will vote against the bill, at least eight Democrats would need vote for it in order for it to pass.
Several Democrats say they’re watching to see what happens in the House vote before announcing their position.
“I gotta wait to see the impact it has on Arizona,” Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., said Tuesday.
Sen. Angus King, a Maine independent who caucuses with Democrats, said Tuesday he was concerned the Trump administration might try to make a shutdown as painful as possible. He is also undecided on the bill.
“That’s one of the things we have to consider. We’re dealing with people, many of whom, I suspect, think a shutdown would be a good thing,” King said, “and they could prolong it and use it to expand the president’s power even beyond what they’re already considering. … This isn’t normal.”
Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., also kept his powder dry.
“I haven’t come out publicly at this point, just because I want to see what the House does,” he said, aligning with top Democratic appropriators who want a one-month extension in order to negotiate a new funding agreement. “I’m still hoping that there’s space for the 30-day extension,” Kim said.
Ryan Nobles, Rebecca Kaplan, Frank Thorp V, Melanie Zanona, Julie Tsirkin, Syedah Asghar and Kate Santaliz contributed.
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