If you haven’t heard, rumors of another possible government shutdown are very real. Thankfully, Speaker Mike Johnson thinks he has a plan to avoid it.
As you may know, with 2024 just around the corner, the House of Representatives is trying very hard to put together government funding for the upcoming year. It is a crucial task for the lower chamber every year. Should they not be able to agree on a budget and approve funding, the government will go into a period of shutdown, which no one really wants.
However, thanks to the ousting of former Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy and the lengthy time it took for the Republican Party to elect Johnson as his successor, they are on a severe time crunch.
In fact, due to the 72-hour rule, which demands that lawmakers have at least 72 hours to look over any proposed bill before voting on it, Johnson has until Tuesday at the latest to get a bill put together.
Some would say it can’t be done.
However, what Johnson has proposed is a bit different than most.
According to MSNBC, the idea has never been tried before. Instead of rushing to put together one massive that encompasses all of the different sectors of the government and its funding needs, Johnson is apparently proposing a “laddered” or “staggered” process. This would mean pushing through a series of smaller bills aimed at funding specific government sectors instead of everything at once.
As I mentioned, it’s never been done before.
And that has more than a few conservatives worried that it won’t work. Senator Shelley Moore of West Virginia says it’s probably not “a good idea.” Maine’s Senator Collins has “a lot of reservations.”
Of course, Democrats like Patty Murray say it’s the “craziest, stupidest thing” he’s ever heard of.
I guess we’ll just have to wait and see. At least Johnson is trying.
