Congressional Republicans left Washington this week with little progress toward funding the government or averting a shutdown next week. The GOP is divided over spending, with Speaker Mike Johnson struggling to find a way to keep the government open with a deeply anti-spending party unwilling to support a stopgap funding bill that is likely to be defeated in the Democratic-controlled Senate. The rift among House Republicans has made their majority ungovernable and led to the ouster of the last speaker, Kevin McCarthy.
The House Republicans scrapped their legislative work on Thursday after Speaker Johnson’s attempts to push through two individual spending bills failed due to lack of GOP support. This move is further indication of the deep divisions and infighting among Republicans over funding federal programs. With a shutdown looming, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer implored Speaker Johnson and House Republicans to avoid hard-right proposals and poison bills, warning that they would only make a shutdown more likely.
The question remains whether Speaker Johnson is willing to put forward a stopgap spending bill that Democrats can accept. He appears to be strongly against leaning on Democrats to pass a funding bill, while some hard-line conservatives say they will not support any stopgap bill to avert a shutdown. The ongoing struggle to pass the 12 appropriations bills needed to fund the government highlights the obstacles within the GOP.
More mainstream Republicans have opposed the deep spending cuts and partisan policy riders included in the appropriations bills. On the brink of a shutdown, the party’s internal issues persist, with moderate Republicans criticizing their colleagues for attaching unrelated anti-abortion measures and other “monkey business” to the spending bills. The outcome of next week’s votes remains uncertain as the GOP continues to grapple with internal divisions.
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