New House speaker passes first test: Avoid shutdown

Newly elected U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson cleared his first major leadership test Tuesday by passing a short-term funding measure to avert a government shutdown.

Now comes the hard part.

Speaker Johnson and his fellow Republicans have vowed to go back to the old way of approving a budget – evaluating one section of the government at a time, allowing lawmakers to weigh in – rather than rolling it all into one “omnibus” bill that leaders negotiate behind closed doors. 

The Senate is expected to pass the stopgap funding measure – known as a continuing resolution, or CR – well before the Friday night deadline. The measure would extend funding for some parts of the government until Jan. 19, 2024, and the rest until Feb. 2. That buys Congress time to try to complete the budget process, which requires passing 12 separate appropriations bills. But Tuesday also underscored fault lines that could bedevil Mr. Johnson in the coming weeks. 

While all but two Democrats voted for the CR to avert a shutdown, they criticized the budget process so far. Republicans have pushed to cut spending below levels agreed to in a bipartisan bill this summer, and have included right-wing priorities in appropriations bills. “This is no way to run a country,” says Democratic Whip Katherine Clark of Massachusetts. 

On the GOP side, nearly 100 Republicans voted against the CR, a measure antithetical for many who are demanding more fiscally conservative government given the record national debt. Some were steamed that their new speaker would continue funding the government at fiscal year 2023 levels, set by Democrats before the GOP flipped the House. 

“If the Democratic allegation is that the CR does not meet every single one of their policy desires, they’re right. ... Welcome to Washington,” says South Dakota Rep. Dusty Johnson of the Republican Main Street Caucus. At the same time, he acknowledges that the new speaker is already facing resistance from his right flank. “There’s a group of 20 [GOP] members who are almost impossible to get to ‘yes’ on anything. They are experts at letting the perfect be the enemy of the good. We’re governing the country in spite of them, rather than with them.”

A spate of altercations

A bizarre spate of skirmishes among Republicans on the Hill yesterday revealed the raw feelings within the caucus in the wake of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s Oct. 3 ouster. That unprecedented event was followed by weeks of marathon meetings as Republicans repeatedly tried and failed to coalesce around a new leader before Mr. Johnson – a deeply conservative lawmaker from Louisiana – was finally elected Oct. 25.

GOP Rep. Tim Burchett, a Tennessee fiscal conservative and one of the eight who voted with Democrats to remove Mr. McCarthy, accused the former speaker of elbowing him hard in the back as the latter passed by. An NPR reporter who was interviewing Mr. Burchett at the time corroborated the account. 

Mr. McCarthy – who has been similarly accused by other Republicans who fell out of his favor – claimed it was unintentional. McCarthy ally Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma, who moved from the House to the Senate this year, said he wouldn’t trust Mr. Burchett, whom he kicked out of his congressional workout group last week, the Hill reported. This, after Senator Mullin – a former MMA fighter – challenged a witness to a fistfight during a hearing yesterday, standing up and moving to take off his wedding ring in preparation before Chair Bernie Sanders barked, “You’re a United States senator. Sit down!”

With the Thanksgiving holiday coming next week, House members will get a respite after an unusually intense period of 10 straight weeks, which included the speakership drama and two government shutdown deadlines. 

Congress’ to-do list

So far, the House has passed seven of 12 appropriations bills, and the Senate has passed three. Neither chamber has taken up the other’s bills, a prerequisite to sending them to the White House for President Joe Biden to sign. 

Also hanging in the balance is supplemental aid for Israel and Ukraine, two allies locked in wars involving key U.S. adversaries Iran and Russia. The House GOP passed a bill to send $14.3 billion to Israel, rankling Democrats and some Senate Republicans who want to combine it with tens of billions of aid to Ukraine. 

Last night, after 290,000 people turned out for a pro-Israel march on the National Mall according to organizers, GOP Sen. Roger Marshall of Kansas tried to force a Senate vote on the Israel aid bill – an unusual maneuver for a minority senator. Democrats succeeded in tabling the motion 51-48.

Republicans are also seeking U.S. border policy changes and additional funding to stem the tide of migrants after more than 8 million illegal crossings under Mr. Biden’s watch. If the United States is going to spend money helping Ukraine defend its borders, they say, funds should also go to bolstering U.S. border security. 

“Give him time”

In short, while newly elected Speaker Johnson faces a big to-do list this holiday season, he also appears to have some running room. GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz, who spearheaded Mr. McCarthy’s ouster after the former speaker passed a CR in late September, voted against the measure on Tuesday but says he had no plans to get rid of Mr. Johnson.

He calls yesterday’s CR the last Kevin McCarthy play as the new “coach” gets his team in order. “We’re going to give him the time to design his plays and run his offense,” says Mr. Gaetz. 

“He’s a good listener, and he knows how to bring in cross sections of the conference,” he adds, praising Mr. Johnson’s leadership style despite his lack of experience. “I count the fact that he hasn’t sold every share of himself to the lobbyists and special interests in this town as an asset.”

Democrats, for their part, are worried that they may find themselves back in a similar position come January. 

 “I’m certainly concerned about whether or not this will just be kicking the can down the road,” says Rep. Mikie Sherrill, a New Jersey Democrat and former helicopter pilot. But, she adds, “hope springs eternal.”