House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) announced that the top-line spending deal he forged with Senate Democrats would remain intact even after conservative Republicans pressed the party leader to back out of the agreement.
“Our top-line agreement remains,” Johnson told reporters on Friday. “We are getting our next steps together, and we are working towards a robust appropriations process. So stay tuned for all of that.”
The announcement comes after hard-line House Republicans met with the speaker to oppose the $1.66 trillion agreement he brokered with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) just days earlier, threatening to withhold their support on any spending legislation one week ahead of a scheduled government shutdown.
However, Johnson said he spoke with lawmakers across the GOP conference, ultimately coming to the decision to maintain the bipartisan spending deal. Republicans in vulnerable districts had pushed the speaker to preserve the top-line agreement.
“I’ve spoken and received feedback this week from all across the Republican Conference. That’s a very important part of this,” Johnson said. “When I became speaker, I committed to decentralizing the speaker’s office and making this a member-driven process.”
The government is set to enter a partial shutdown in seven days, after which funding will lapse for a slate of federal agencies if some sort of spending legislation is not passed. Johnson and Schumer announced the proposal on Sunday afternoon, prompting immediate backlash from conservative lawmakers who argued the framework did not go far enough to cut government spending.
Several conservatives vowed to shoot down the spending deal, putting them at odds with centrist Republicans who backed the agreement. Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) was seen in a tense exchange with Reps. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and Byron Donalds (R-FL) on the floor on Friday.
Donalds said he disagreed with Johnson’s decision, telling reporters it was a “bad move.”
“The border deal must be secured,” Donalds said. “This is sensible stuff. It’s not difficult. You’re playing politics because they don’t want to have to admit that Joe Biden is reckless on the border.”
Johnson met with conservatives on Wednesday and Thursday to talk through the spending deal, with some lawmakers claiming Johnson agreed to rewrite the spending agreement in exchange for a lower top-line number. Johnson later clarified those claims, noting nothing was yet set in stone.
Freedom Caucus Chairman Bob Good (R-VA) said talks would continue with the speaker, especially as lawmakers move forward with advancing appropriations bills.
“We’re having constructive conversations. He’s trying to see what he can get,” Good said.
Lawmakers have until Jan. 19 to pass the first batch of appropriations bills, after which a number of federal agencies will lapse in funding, causing a partial government shutdown. The second deadline is set for Feb. 2.
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Several Republicans have floated the idea of advancing a stopgap measure to extend government funding into early March and buy negotiators more time, although Johnson has not yet indicated whether he would bring such a measure to the floor.
Good and a handful of other conservatives have said they would like to see a continuing resolution last until September implementing 1% cuts across the board until the next fiscal year. Senate Republicans, on the other hand, have floated the short-term extension.
