Facing the first big legislative test of his House speakership, Mike Johnson vowed that his two-tiered continuing resolution to fund the government will be his last, expressing his hatred of CRs on “FOX & Friends” ahead of Tuesday’s vote.
SPEAKER JOHNSON DRAWS BATTLE LINES AHEAD OF GOVERNMENT SPENDING SHOWDOWN
MIKE JOHNSON: We’re doing something very different here by breaking it up and doing the ladder CR. We have a different process. It wasn’t Kevin’s fault, in my estimation. What happened before circumstances were different than they are right now. By doing this, we actually allow ourselves to do our job and fight for our conservative principles. Some of the people you name are some of my closest friends. I understand it. I hate CRs. We shouldn’t do this, and we’re not going to do it again next year. We’re going to get back to the actual lawful appropriations process that the American people deserve. But this is a necessary step to bridge that gap to get us there and prevent a government shutdown.
Johnson is going to need help from House Democrats to pass his plan for averting a government shutdown as the deadline to fund the federal government, Nov. 17, rapidly approaches.
He unveiled a possible solution on Saturday in the form of a short-term government funding extension known as a continuing resolution (CR). However, its lack of spending cuts is threatening to bring deep cracks within the House GOP conference back to the surface, forcing the majority of Republicans to once again choose between meeting GOP hardliner demands or working with Democrats.
At least five House Republicans voiced opposition to the CR as of Monday morning. With just a razor-thin House majority, GOP leadership can only lose four Republican votes to pass something solely on party lines.
FOX News’ Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.
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