The GOP-led House passed a continuing resolution (CR) on Thursday to extend current federal funding levels to avoid a government shutdown, despite House Speaker Johnson having previously vowed not to pursue any more temporary spending bills.
“I’m done with short term CRs,” Johnson said in November 2023 after Congress passed a two-step CR with Jan. 19 and Feb. 2 appropriations deadlines.
Johnson decided to put the Democratic Senate’s short-term continuing resolution on the House floor for a vote on Thursday, despite harsh criticism from House Republicans about his strategy, and it passed with more votes from Democrats than Republicans.
A group of 8 conservatives, along with all House Democrats, supported the ousting of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy after he put a 45-day CR on the House floor to avoid a government shutdown. At the time, those conservatives wanted to see 12 single-subject appropriations bills passed as a way to curb government spending, instead of short-term bills that simply continue current funding levels.