Congress Tries to Dodge Another Government Shutdown in 2024

As the January deadline for a potential government shutdown looms, House Republicans are grappling with the decision of whether to punt on their spending priorities or extend former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's budget into 2025.

The fear of being jammed by the Senate on a massive omnibus spending package has raised concerns among House GOP members, pushing them to consider alternative options.

With the first government shutdown deadline just days after Congress returns in early January, Republicans have made little progress on appropriations since the last stopgap funding bill in November. While some GOP hardliners argue that a shutdown would be preferable to being squeezed with an omnibus, most are urging Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to pursue the most conservative deal possible.

Although the situation remains fluid, many House Republicans have said that they believe the least-disastrous option at the deadline would be to pass a yearlong spending extension, according to both Politico and The Hill.

Failure to do so would trigger 1% across-the-board spending cuts, as stipulated in this year's debt limit deal, if a permanent budget is not passed by April 1. In November, Congress passed a two-step stopgap measure to fund four federal agencies until Jan. 19 and the rest until Feb 2.

While GOP proponents argued that this approach would protect Republicans from being rolled with an omnibus, some members are concerned that it did little to enhance their leverage.

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A significant divide persists between the House and Senate regarding spending levels, with Johnson advocating for the $1.59 trillion level set in the debt deal negotiated under former Speaker Kevin McCarthy. On the other hand, the Senate is seeking a side deal to provide an additional $14 billion in emergency spending.