Senate passes funding bill to avert partial government shutdown

CNN just witnessed GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene file a resolution with the parliamentarian ahead of a House vote on a bipartisan spending package. 

It is unclear what the resolution is, but it comes as Greene has dangled the threat of a potential motion to vacate the speaker’s chair. To trigger such a vote, she would need to file a resolution with the parliamentarian first.  

On a podcast earlier, Greene — who has said she is “done” with Speaker Mike Johnson — indicated she’s making a decision on a “minute by minute basis” on the motion to vacate and urged people to “watch and see what happens.” 

A source familiar with the matter, says that she has been weighing whether to force a vote seeking his ouster.

Georgia firebrand GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene said "stay tuned" when asked if she's bringing a motion to vacate against Speaker Mike Johnson, during an interview on a conservative podcast. 

More context: Johnson, who won the gavel after Kevin McCarthy’s ouster, has faced pushback from his right flank over his handling of the government funding fight.

McCarthy’s fate has raised questions over whether Johnson could face a similar threat to his speakership, but many Republicans have made clear they do not want another speaker’s race after the intense infighting and chaos triggered by McCarthy’s removal.

This is the fifth time since September that lawmakers have run up against a funding deadline, passing stopgap bills in the nick of time in September, November, January and earlier this month to keep the government running.

In September, President Joe Biden signed the short-term funding bill passed by Congress, averting a government shutdown ahead of a midnight deadline. The bill kept the government open through November 17 and included natural disaster aid but not additional funding for Ukraine or border security.

Then in November, the Senate passed a stopgap bill to keep the government open that created two new shutdown deadlines in January and February, an unusual two-step approach to funding the government.

The bill extended funding until January 19 for priorities including military construction, veterans’ affairs, transportation, housing and the Energy Department. The rest of the government – anything not covered by the first step – would be funded until February 2. The proposal did not include additional aid for Israel or Ukraine.

In January, lawmakers passed the two-step, short-term funding extension setting up a pair of new deadlines on March 1 and March 8.

The two-step plan passed in January extended funding through March 1 for parts of the federal government including military construction and the departments of Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, Housing and Urban Development, Transportation and Energy. The rest of the government – anything not covered by the first step – was funded through March 8.

Then earlier this month, Congress passed a first slate of government funding bills ahead of another partial deadline at the end of the day on March 22, providing funding for the departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Justice, Veterans Affairs, Energy, Interior, Transportation, Housing and Urban Development as well as the Food and Drug Administration, military construction and other federal programs.

Funding for the remaining departments and agencies expires at the end of the today.

Lawmakers unveiled a $1.2 trillion government funding package on Thursday, setting up a high-stakes sprint to pass the legislation as a shutdown deadline looms at the end of the week.

With the release of the legislative text that’s more than 1,000 pages, the House and Senate are now facing a major time crunch to get the legislation across the finish line.

Read the full text of the funding package below:

As House GOP leaders scrambled to shore up support for a government spending package, they floated the idea of adding member pay raises to the bill, according to two GOP sources — but ran into a wall of opposition in the Senate. 

Some senior House Republicans informed the GOP whip team that they were planning to vote against the spending bill because it doesn’t provide lawmakers with a cost-of-living adjustment, sources said.

Lawmakers, who have an annual salary of $174,000, haven’t seen a pay raise since 2009.

House GOP leaders were trying to gauge whether they could get more members on board with the funding bill by adding pay raises, and some senior House Democrats are also for the idea.

But sources say Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is adamantly against it. Taking that step could expose his vulnerable members to taking a potentially tough vote in an election year. 

While the funding package is still expected to pass in the House on Friday with hefty support from Democrats, the vote could be close, as it is coming up under an expedited process that requires a two-thirds majority for passage.

Top House Republicans expect they’ll have the votes to pass the spending package this morning — but it could be close.

They’ll need a two-thirds majority to pass the bill, so Democrats will have to help carry it Friday morning amid a revolt in some quarters of the House GOP Conference, according to senior GOP sources.

It remains unclear if the GOP can win a majority of their conference — a key threshold they try to achieve on every vote.  

It’s also not yet clear if the Senate will be able to pass the legislation ahead of Friday’s deadline, raising concerns on Capitol Hill that there could be a short-term lapse in government funding over the weekend.

Add $1.2 trillion in government spending bills to the short list of things where it’s fine to barely miss – horseshoes, hand grenades and taxpayer dollars.

The multi-act, epic saga of funding the government for the fiscal year that is nearly halfway over is finally at its end, but maybe not before funding lapses for much of the government after 11:59 p.m. ET on Friday.

It’s not exactly a shutdown if lawmakers can pass the package close to on time, before the end of the weekend. Internal Revenue Service workers won’t be furloughed during tax season and border agents won’t be working without pay.

How is this going to end? All indications are that the final departments of the federal government will get full-year funding in short order. It might not happen until over the weekend or early next week, however, which is after funding lapses.

Will there be a shutdown? Maybe. But not exactly. The temporary lapse in funding over the weekend for parts of the government would be so short that it would likely have a limited impact on government operations.

Why don't they pass the bill before funding lapses? Republicans in the House have made a big deal about publishing the text of bills a full 72 hours before they get final votes.

Has this happened before? Short-term, no-big-deal government funding lapses like this possible one are not unprecedented. In 1982, for instance, lawmakers had a deal to fund the government, but they ran out of time to pass the funding bills.

Read the full analysis.

Congress passed a first slate of government funding bills ahead of another partial deadline earlier this month, providing funding for the departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Justice, Veterans Affairs, Energy, Interior, Transportation, Housing and Urban Development as well as the Food and Drug Administration, military construction and other federal programs.

But funding for the remaining departments and agencies expires at the end of the day March 22. That includes the departments of Homeland Security, Defense, State, Treasury, Health and Human Services, Education and Labor. A series of sticking points remain including over funding for DHS.

Millions of federal workers and military personnel would be affected by the shutdown, including about 60% of civilian federal employees, according to Andrew Lautz, senior policy analyst at the Bipartisan Policy Center.

At least 625,000 workers, mostly civilian Defense Department employees, could be subject to furlough, he said. At least another 725,000 civilian federal employees, mainly in the departments of Homeland Security and Defense, could have to continue working, but not get paid until the shutdown ends, Lautz said.

And just over 2 million military personnel, including active duty and selected reserve members, could also have work without pay.

The absence of a deal could also cause airport delays, harm border operation, affect civilian workforce and recruiting, have an effect on tax filing season and federal student aid, as well as impact State Department contracts and job offers.

Read more about the impacts should a deal not be reached.

The House is expected to vote today on whether to pass key government spending legislation ahead of a fast-approaching shutdown deadline at the end of the day, the culmination of a months-long funding fight on Capitol Hill.

Friday’s tight timeline has sparked fears of a potential, partial shutdown at midnight, though top lawmakers on both sides of the aisle say they are pushing to prevent that.

If the House passes the legislation, as is expected, it would next go to the Senate where lawmakers must reach an agreement to swiftly approve the bill.

If both chambers of Congress have not passed the legislation before the deadline, a temporary lapse in funding would take place, triggering a partial shutdown.

The impact of a partial shutdown would be limited if funding is approved over the weekend before the start of the work week.

Vote threshold: As of Thursday night, top House Republicans expected they’ll have the votes to pass the spending package – but it could be close. They’ll need a two-thirds majority to pass the bill, so Democrats will have to help carry it amid a revolt in some quarters of the House GOP Conference, according to senior GOP sources. It remains unclear if the GOP can win a majority of their conference – a key threshold they try to achieve on every vote.

Read more about the looming deadline to avoid a partial shutdown here.