Speaker Mike Johnson said Thursday he plans to hold a House vote next on a stopgap spending measure, one that would likely fund the government through the November midterm elections.
The move is an opening bid in what could become a contentious partisan fight ahead of the end of the federal fiscal year on Sept. 30. Johnson (R-La.) has been privately trying to convince President Donald Trump to back the stopgap in a bid to provoke a confrontation with Democrats, according to three people granted anonymity to discuss private conversations.
Democrats spurred a record-long governmentwide shutdown last fall and an even longer shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security this spring. Republican believe another shutdown fight could work to their benefit ahead of the midterms, the people said.
But Republicans face internal complications passing any funding bill. Many GOP lawmakers are demanding any must-pass bill that emerges from the House needs to also include the SAVE America Act, the Republican elections bill that has languished in the Senate for months, and leaders have yet to decide what to do.
