House Republicans are still divided over the best path to keep the government funded.
It’s a complicated situation that comes as House Speaker Mike Johnson is still grappling with how to lead his unruly and narrow majority. Patience is running thin for the inexperienced speaker who has already punted several funding deadlines since taking the gavel.
Here’s what to know:
In January, Johnson announced a deal with the Senate to fund the government at $1.66 trillion, much to the frustration of his right flank. But the fight over where that money goes and what programs get funded has dragged on for weeks.
Between January and February, Johnson is facing pressure from members of the House Freedom Caucus to include dozens of policy riders that would never pass in the Democratic-controlled Senate.
On February 21, 28 Republican members of the House Freedom Caucus upped the ante in a letter to Johnson, imploring him to give them a status update on appropriations talks and warning that if he couldn’t secure a series of conservative policy riders — including zeroing out Homeland Security secretary’s salary, defunding Planned Parenthood and blocking funding a new FBI building — he would be better off moving to pass a one-year continuing resolution that would fund the government at current levels but would be subject to automatic cuts across the board after April 30.
On Tuesday, Johnson offered to move a stopgap spending bill to buy negotiators more time to hammer out a longer-term spending agreement ahead of Friday’s first funding deadline, according to sources familiar with the matter.
On Wednesday, congressional leaders said negotiators have agreed on six bills and that the funding package will be voted on and passed before March 8.
