The federal government shuts down a week from Friday at midnight absent congressional action. And all of Washington is looking toward Speaker Mike Johnson for a public indication of a plan to avoid that outcome.
With a rule in place requiring bills to be released at least 72 hours before a floor vote, prepare to keep hitting refresh on the Rules Committee website Friday or into the weekend to catch a glimpse of whatever approach is ultimately picked.
Yet, many of the ideas being bandied about — like the "laddered" plan where funding would lapse to various parts of the government at different times — are already being panned as dead-on-arrival in the Senate. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer took initial procedural steps to advance a short-term patch on Thursday and urged House Republicans to avoid the near-shutdown of a month ago.
"Hard-right proposals, hard-right slashing cuts, hard-right poison pills that have zero support from Democrats will only make a shutdown more likely. I hope they don’t go down that path in the week to come," Schumer said on the floor.
In possibly related news: Three House members on Thursday alone said they would not seek reelection in 2024.
