US House Speaker Seeks 'Unity' with Democrats... Last-Ditch Effort Ahead of Shutdown

Chairman Johnson Temporary Budget Vote
Fast Track Requires Two-Thirds Approval
Republicans 221 Seats, Democrats 213 Seats
Democrats 'Unity' Freedom Caucus 'Opposition' in Focus

Mike Johnson, Speaker of the House and a member of the U.S. Republican Party, has enlisted the help of the Democrats to pass a government stopgap budget bill opposed by hardliners within his own party. Fearing a government shutdown that would occur if the 2024 fiscal year budget is not passed within three days, Johnson appears to have taken this desperate measure despite opposition from his party.

Mike Johnson, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives for the Republican Party
[Photo by AFP Yonhap News]

According to major foreign media including The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), the House voted on Johnson's stopgap budget bill that day. The Democrats held a meeting that morning and expressed support for Johnson's decision. If the bill passes the House, it is expected to be approved by the Senate as well. Bipartisan Senate leaders announced the day before that they support a two-step budget plan.

Earlier, Johnson unveiled the stopgap budget bill on the 11th, but the House Rules Committee, which determines the rules for floor debate, was controlled by Republican hardliners opposing the bill, making it difficult to even bring the bill to the floor. Therefore, Johnson chose a 'fast track' method to bypass the Rules Committee and bring the bill directly to the floor. In this case, a two-thirds majority vote is required to pass the bill, rather than a simple majority. Currently, the House seats are divided as 221 Republicans and 213 Democrats. This suggests that Johnson decided to rely on Democratic support to pass the budget bill.

Politico observed that many Democratic lawmakers are likely to support the stopgap budget bill because it maintains the previous year's government spending level and there is neither a reason nor an alternative to oppose it. On the other hand, The Washington Post (WP) evaluated Johnson's decision as a strategy to avoid a "humiliating defeat" where the Republican leadership would try to pass the budget bill on their own but fail due to opposition from their own hardliners.

The hardliner group called the 'Freedom Caucus' immediately issued a statement that day officially opposing Johnson's budget bill. The bill proposed by Johnson is a temporary budget that only allocates funds necessary to operate the government for January and February of the next year, not the entire 2024 fiscal year. It also partially reflects the demands of the Republican hardliners. However, the hardliners oppose the bill because it does not include their demands for spending cuts or increased border control funding.

WP predicted that even if the budget bill passes as planned by Johnson, the hardliners will not be able to remove the Speaker of the House. Chip Roy, a member of the Freedom Caucus, acknowledged that Johnson faces a "difficult situation" with a shutdown crisis right after starting his term, and the Freedom Caucus stated in their release, "We are willing to continue working with Speaker Johnson, but bold changes are needed."

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