Will There Be Another Government Shutdown? Here’s What To Know 9 Days From Deadline

Topline For the third time in less than a year, the federal government is just days away from shutting down amid Republican infighting that has repeatedly hamstrung critical legislation in the 118th session of Congress. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer, D N.Y., left, and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R La., ...

[+] attend a Menorah lighting to celebrate the eight day festival of Hanukkah, in the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday, December 12, 2023. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images) Key Facts Congress must approve a new spending plan before Jan. 19, when the current bill would expire and trigger a shutdown without a budget in place to dictate how federal agencies should spend government money.

Congress has extended the budget for fiscal year 2023, which ended Sept. 30, twice already as it has failed to come to an agreement on new appropriations bills for fiscal year 2024: once at the end of September and again in November . Bipartisan negotiators in Congress appeared to signal some progress over the weekend when Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D N.Y.) and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R La.) announced they had reached an agreement to spend $1.59 trillion in fiscal year 2024, relatively flat with the current budget and in line with the spending levels agreed to as part of the deal former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R Calif.) negotiated with President Joe Biden last year to raise the federal debt limit.

The agreement is a first step toward averting a shutdown, but lawmakers still have a long way to go in negotiating how the money will be distributed throughout the 12 annual appropriations bills that make up the full year budget. The time crunch prompted Senate leaders from both sides of the aisle, including Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R Ky.) and Senate Appropriations Chair Patty Murray (D Wash.), this week to endorse passing another short term spending deal to extend the fiscal year 2023 budget in order to give lawmakers time to work out the kinks, an idea Johnson also expressed openness to Wednesday.

Chief Critics The far right House Freedom Caucus railed against the spending plan announced Sunday, calling it a “total failure” in a statement, while multiple right wing members, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R Ga.) vowed to vote against it, demanding steeper cuts and more border controls, among other policy priorities.

Tangent Johnson faced his first revolt Wednesday since he was elected speaker in October when 13 far right lawmakers joined with Democrats in opposing a procedural vote to move three unrelated bills to the floor in protest of the spending deal announced Sunday. What To Watch For Whether the far right will move to oust Johnson as speaker over the new spending plan, they did in October when they removed McCarthy as speaker.

Some Republicans have suggested such action, including Rep. Chip Roy (R Texas), who did not rule out the prospect of bringing a motion to vacate against Johnson when prompted by CNN on Sunday. Rep. Tim Burchett (R Tenn.) also told reporters Tuesday “a lot of people were talking about” the prospect of removing Johnson, while Rep.

Victoria Spartz (R Ind.) told Newsweek “people here and there” were floating the idea. The far right is broadly opposed to short term spending deals because they extend the current budget, preventing them from using the spending plans as a vehicle to push their fiscal and policy priorities. The short term spending plan passed at the end of September, along with the debt ceiling deal, were two prominent factors the far right cited in booting McCarthy from his post.

Key Background The spending deal announced Sunday includes $772 billion in non military spending in addition to the $886 billion Congress already approved for Department of Defense spending last year. The bill also includes accelerated cuts to the Internal Revenue Service, a GOP demand, that would impose $20 billion in spending rollbacks for the agency this year, opposed to spreading the spending reductions over two years, as previously suggested.

It’s unclear whether the deal would include funding for Ukraine and Israel, which Congress has yet to approve amid Republican demands for stricter border controls. What We Don’t Know Whether the House would have the votes to pass the new spending bill announced Sunday. Republicans’ seven seat majority will be reduced to six when Rep.

Bill Johnson (R Ohio) resigns on Jan. 21, and the majority could be whittled to five if a Democrat wins the Feb. 13 special election to replace expelled Rep. George Santos (R N.Y.)..