Congress barrels toward shutdown with House GOP divided

Congress is barreling toward a government shutdown this week as Friday’s funding deadline inches closer, with House Republicans at odds over Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-La.) pitch to keep the lights on in Washington.

Johnson unveiled an unconventional two-step stopgap bill over the weekend, which would extend funding at current levels for some agencies until mid-January and the rest through early February. That proposal, however, is already dividing the fractious House GOP conference, with some hard-line conservatives voicing opposition to the legislation because of the lack of spending cuts.

Top Democrats, meanwhile, have come out against Johnson’s plan, criticizing the “laddered” approach and denouncing the lack of aid for Israel or Ukraine in the legislation. Congress has just five days to avert a shutdown.

Across the Capitol, the Senate will hold a procedural vote for its own legislation to avert a shutdown this week, moving a legislative vehicle that will be used for an eventual stopgap bill.

Aside from funding the government, the House this week will weigh in on a resolution to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, after Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) moved to force a vote on the legislation last week. And lawmakers are bracing for an update regarding the House Ethics Committee’s investigation into Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.), which will likely lead to a third effort to expel him from office.