The House will be out of session next month, limiting the options for keeping the government funded.
House Speaker Mike Johnson proposed a stopgap bill providing temporary funding ahead of the 2024 election, but postponed the vote on the continuing resolution last week when he realized it could not unify the House majority.
Representatives have expressed various ideas for a spending bill. During a Sunday television interview, Representatives Bryan Steil of Wisconsin and Cory Mills of Florida put forth opposing opinions.
“Shut the government down or shut the border down to protect our elections,” Congressman Mills said as he stood by his opposition to his leadership’s bill.
Congressman Steil said that the conservative policies included in that bill could cut off negotiations with the Senate. He said, “I think we have an opportunity to pass the legislation the speaker has put forward and jam the United States Senate.”
“Jamming” the Senate is a House strategy that attempts to force through a spending bill by putting government shutdown on the line.
Since the House will be out of session and at their district offices for the month of October, the Senate will not be able to negotiate potential legislation. If the House sends the partisan spending proposal to the Senate just ahead of its break, the Senate has only two options: to develop a counterproposal that the House will not receive while out of session, prompting a government shutdown, or pass the House’s spending proposal without negotiation to avert a shutdown.
As the Lord Leads, Pray with Us…
- For the members of Congress to be discerning regarding the funding of the federal government.
- For wisdom for senators and representatives as they consider the national debt and executive branch requests for appropriations.
Sources: Reuters
