House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) told reporters that the Republican Party is united on a third plan to avoid a government shutdown.
“We have a unified Republican conference. There’s a unanimous agreement in the room that we need to move forward,” Johnson said. “I will not telegraph to you the specific details of that yet because I’ve got a couple of things I’ve gotta wrap up in a few moments upstairs. But I expect that we will be proceeding forward.”
“We will not have a government shutdown,” he emphasized. “And we will meet our obligations for our farmers who need aid, for the disaster victims all over the country, and for making sure that military and essential services, and everyone who relies upon the federal government for a paycheck gets paid over the holidays.”
Sources familiar with the development told Fox News that the deal includes three separate bills. These bills include a short-term federal funding bill, a disaster relief bill, and a farm aid bill.
The first iteration of the continuing resolution was more than 1,500 pages. The second CR was only 116 pages. Several Republicans criticized the smaller bill, including Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX), who said, “Old bill: $110BB in deficit spending (unpaid for), $0 increase in the national credit card. New bill: $110BB in deficit spending (unpaid for), $4 TRILLION+ debt ceiling increase with $0 in structural reforms for cuts. Time to read the bill: 1.5 hours. I will vote no.”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) urged Congress to return to its failed 1,500-page spending bill.
