New shutdown deadline looms on March 1; government spending bills too big for lawmakers to handle

House Republicans have made a lot of noise about breaking Washington’s habit of relying on an end-of-year, colossal catchall spending bill to fund the federal government, but they have made little progress in finishing the work.

After three stopgap bills to avert shutdowns and lingering disagreements over spending, passing all 12 annual spending bills one by one appears impossible.

Yet House Speaker Mike Johnson and his Republican conference’s band of archconservatives stand firmly in their quest. Complicating matters, the Republicans’ majority is down to two seats with the loss of a New York district in a special election last week.

The Republican-led House has passed seven of the annual spending bills. The Democratic-led Senate has passed three. Neither chamber has approved or even considered spending legislation since November.

The House is on a two-week recess. When lawmakers return on Feb. 28, they will have only three working days to approve emergency spending legislation to prevent a partial government shutdown at midnight on March 1. House Majority Whip Tom Emmer of Minnesota has said Republican leaders won’t consider any stopgap spending bills.