House GOP pursuing two-step plan to avert government shutdown

House Republicans are pursuing a two-step plan for funding the government, three sources familiar with the matter told CNN, as Congress barrels toward another spending deadline Friday.

Newly elected House Speaker Mike Johnson announced the plan on a GOP conference call with members Saturday afternoon and argued, “I wasn’t the architect of the mess we are in,” according to a source on the call.

While Johnson embraced the right-wing members of his conference by pitching the two-step approach, he didn’t fully cave to their wishes. The package does not include the deep spending cuts his right flank pushed for but instead extends funding at its current levels.