House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said on Capitol Hill today that he plans to unveil legislation that would fund the government at fiscal year (FY) 2024 spending levels until March 14, 2025.
The bill is expected to land just three days before the current continuing resolution (CR) is set to expire on Dec. 20.
“The CR is coming together. Bipartisan work is ongoing, we’re almost there. We worked really hard to achieve consensus on the bill that responsibly funds the government into March of next year – it’ll go until March 14,” Rep. Johnson said this morning. “But our aim is to do it early in the year, not wait until March.”
“It was intended to be, and it was until recent days, a very simple, a very clean CR – a stopgap funding measure to get us into next year when we have a unified government under a Republican party,” the House speaker said. “I believe in the 72-hour rule … I believe we ought to try to pass this on a rule, to go through regular process, we’re committed to all of that.”
With Speaker Johnson adamant that he’ll honor the 72-hour rule, that pushes a House vote into Thursday night. That means the Senate may not vote on the measure until Friday or Saturday – right up against the shutdown deadline.
The final text of the measure had not yet been released at MeriTalk’s late afternoon news deadline, but it is set to include $100 billion in disaster aid for those affected by hurricanes earlier this year and $10 billion in economic assistance for farmers, among other provisions.
“House Democrats have been very clear that the lapsing farm bill is important to us. It’s important for rural America. It’s important for nutrition programs across the country. It’s important that we continue that program,” Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., chair of the House Democratic Caucus, said on Capitol Hill today. “Our members have been focused on also the disaster recovery and assistance. The natural disasters that have happened over the past few months, especially down in the south, require our assistance and support.”
He continued, “Those are the important pillars, in addition to continuing funding vital government programs don’t lapse funding between now and March.”
“I haven’t seen any details or any final language yet. We’ve been hoping that that would be posted soon, but one of the things that I know very clearly is that House Democrats will be needed to pass government funding,” Rep. Aguilar said. “House Republicans are going to need our votes, so we look forward to working with them to be partners in how we fund government.”
