US House Passes Stopgap Bill to Prevent Government Shutdown
The Facts
The US House of Representatives passed Speaker Mike Johnson's (R-La.) short-term, clean continuing resolution, 336 to 95, on Tuesday to keep funding flowing into early next year and prevent a looming government shutdown.
The required supermajority threshold was easily cleared as 209 Democrats and 127 Republicans joined to approve the legislation under special expedited procedures, overcoming the opposition of 93 Republicans — including those in the House Freedom Caucus — and two Democrats who were against it.
The Spin
Democratic narrative
As infighting within the House GOP conference intensifies even after the promotion of Speaker Mike Johnson, Democrats have had to save the day once again by rallying behind this Republican bill in a bid to prevent a disruptive government shutdown. If Johnson doesn't want to end up like his predecessor Kevin McCarthy, he must realize that he has to be thankful to his Democratic colleagues and negotiate with them.
Republican narrative
Though Speaker Mike Johnson has succeeded in his first big challenge, he simply can't rely on help from the Democrats. It's obvious that they will do nothing to help a Republican politically even if that move would be good for the country — and McCarthy is the latest proof of that. That said, Johnson is still in his honeymoon phase with his GOP colleagues and has strong conservative credentials.
