House Speaker Mike Johnson has moved on to a Plan C to avert a government shutdown: breaking up each piece to pass them separately.
Under the House GOP’s latest plan, Republicans will try to pass three separate bills: stopgap funding legislation with a one-year farm bill extension, money for recent natural disasters and aid for farmers, according to two people with direct knowledge of negotiations. A shutdown deadline is now just hours away.
The new plan will test his ability to wrangle his conference. Members believe Johnson is taking the proposal through the Rules Committee, trying to pass it through regular order so it requires only a simple majority on the House floor. Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), who is on the panel, said he will back the plan, meaning it should have enough support to get out of the committee.
But then things get trickier. Johnson would need near unity from his conference to bring it up for debate on the floor, known as voting for the rule. Democrats typically don’t vote for rules and are loath to help bail out Republicans after they backed away from a bipartisan funding agreement earlier this week.
