DC Shutdown Watch

The House today (Friday) voted 286 Yes to 134 No to pass the so-called minibus legislation funding the government through October 1, 2024 — the end of the current fiscal year. The bill was considered under a parliamentary process in the House referred to as “suspension of the rules” that requires a two-thirds supermajority.  The legislation now goes to the Senate, where passage must occur before midnight if a shutdown is to be averted.

Speaker Johnson failed to get a “majority of the majority” to vote for the bill, as only 101 Republicans voted YES while 110 voted NO.  However, Democrats carried the bill over the finish line, with only 22 Ds voting NO.  The NO Democratic votes came from progressives who opposed funding for Israel that was in the compromise bill.

The conservative Republican Freedom Caucus opposed the bill, and conservative Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene filed a motion to vacate the Speakership as punishment to Speaker Johnson for cutting a deal with Democrats and the White House.  The Speaker will need to deal with that issue when the Congress returns from the Easter break.

The Senate will need to cut a deal in the next few hours to pass the bill, but there is a two-week recess on the horizon once the bill passes. As I have written in the past the allure of a two-week break is a positive incentive for the Senate to act, and I expect the $1.2T spending bill to pass before, or just around, the midnight deadline.

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