11/14/2023

Democrats Signal Support for Johnson’s Plan to Avoid Shutdown Ahead of Vote

A vote is expected this afternoon

On Tuesday, the House pressed toward a vote on legislation to keep federal funding flowing into early next year, as a bloc of Democrats tacitly signaled their willingness to back a plan opposed by many Republicans to avert a shutdown at the end of the week.

With funding for federal agencies set to expire at midnight on Friday, Speaker Mike Johnson moved late Monday night to bring the spending bill to the House floor under special expedited procedures that require a supermajority for passage, meaning that substantial Democratic help would be needed. The maneuver by the newly elected speaker — who won his post only three weeks ago — came after hard-right lawmakers increasingly said they would not support the measure because it maintained government spending at current levels.

A vote was expected late Tuesday afternoon.

Please select this link to read the complete article from The New York Times.