Speaker Mike Johnson laid out two potential paths to avert a government shutdown in a closed-door meeting with the House GOP Friday morning, according to a slide presented in the closed-door House GOP conference and shared with POLITICO.
There’s less than 12 hours left before a shutdown deadline.
Option one was moving a stopgap bill that funds the government through March that largely matches the package endorsed by Donald Trump that failed in the House on Thursday evening, except it wouldn’t include raising the debt limit. Johnson said that package would pass via suspension, meaning it would need a two-thirds majority to pass and therefore a lot of Democratic votes.
The second plan he laid out would involve three separate votes on a stopgap funding bill into March, money for natural disasters and aid for farmers. Johnson would try to pass that plan through the Rules Committee, meaning it would have to clear a couple of hurdles before a simple passage vote.
“The speaker is not telling people how it’s going to be,” said Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) as he left the meeting.
However, one person in the room, granted anonymity to speak candidly, said it seemed like Johnson was pushing for the first option.