Dems join forces with GOP to pass Johnson’s funding bill, averting a Christmas shutdown

The House passed Speaker Mike Johnson’s funding bill on Friday just hours before the government was set to shut down at midnight.

Johnson’s latest continuing resolution passed the House in a 366-34 vote, with 170 Republicans and 196 Democrats voting to pass the bill while 34 Republicans voted against the bill.

Like his two previous attempts, Johnson was facing an uphill battle with this CR, working to pass the bill in the 11th hour.

Because the vote took place under suspension, the CR needed two-thirds of the vote to successfully pass the House, requiring Democrats to cooperate with Republicans.

Like the other two bills Johnson had proposed earlier in the week, the latest CR would extend government funding through March 14 and includes aid for farmers as well as hurricane victims. In contrast to Thursday night’s bill, this CR does not include any provisions regarding the suspension of the debt ceiling like Trump originally demanded.

This CR was one of two potential paths Republican leadership was considering early Friday. In addition to the clean, three-month CR that was eventually passed, Republicans were also weighing a three-pronged approach under a rule that would require the CR, farm bill, and disaster aid to be voted on separately and passed with a simple majority.

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Like his two previous attempts, Johnson was facing an uphill battle with this CR, working to pass the bill in the 11th hour.

Johnson unveiled his first CR on Tuesday night after days of ongoing negotiations and delays. The original 1,547-page CR was met with intense scrutiny from Republican lawmakers, MAGA allies, and President-elect Donald Trump himself.

As a result of this overwhelming pressure campaign, Johnson’s first bill never even made it to the floor. Within 24 hours, Johnson was negotiating a new CR.

Johnson produced a drastically smaller 116-page CR on Thursday, which earned Trump’s stamp of approval. The House quickly moved to a vote later that evening. Although 172 Republicans and two Democrats voted in favor of the bill, 38 Republicans joined 197 Democrats to block it.

After Johnson’s third bill was drafted, negotiated, and eventually passed, the government successfully avoided a shutdown before Christmas.

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