Speaker Mike Johnson sticks with $1.6T government, provokes conservative ire

House Speaker Mike Johnson announced Friday he was sticking with a $1.66 trillion spending deal to avert a government shutdown next week, earning him swift blowback from conservative Republican lawmakers who said they will vote against it.

“Our topline agreement remains. We are getting our next steps together, and we are working toward a robust appropriations process. So stay tuned for all that development,” Johnson (R-La.) told reporters on Capitol Hill.

“The topline agreement includes hard-won concessions to cut more — billions, as you know, from the IRS giveaway and the COVID-era slush funds,” he went on, mentioning other “accounting gimmicks” from last year’s debt ceiling bill negotiated by his predecessor, former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.).