By Lauren Fox, Deirdre Walsh and Phil Mattingly
House Republican leaders, after scrambling for support to keep the government open Thursday morning, have scheduled a vote late in the afternoon in a sign they are confident they will be able to pass a stopgap spending bill.
While Republican aides acknowledge the vote will be tight, they have grown more confident as the day has moved forward that they will be able to pass the bill, which Democrats plan to oppose. Republican leaders also scheduled a separate vote on a disaster relief package.
As House Republican leaders looked to lock in disparate groups who were voicing concern over the short-term package, new support from a key committee chairman underscored the progress they were making.
House Armed Services Chairman Mac Thornberry, a Texas Republican who demanded for weeks that the Pentagon needed a full year spending bill with added resources, told reporters Thursday that he would now vote for a stopgap bill to extend current levels until mid-January and he believes it will pass.
He said he has had some “very intense conversations” with his leadership, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and others about finalizing a broader deal.
“I am pretty optimistic that we will be able to have an agreement in January that starts the rebuilding process of the military, but we’ve got to quit using the military as a political pawn,” he said.
Republicans are trying to avoid a shutdown just days ahead of the holidays, but passing a funding bill will require the party to go it alone in the House or risk overshadowing their biggest legislative accomplishment of the year.
Just a day after passing their major tax overhaul that dropped the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%, reduced individual tax rates and expanded the child tax credit, the GOP was trying to make sure they had the votes for a short-term spending bill. As of Thursday morning, the plan from leadership was to pass a stopgap measure to keep the government funded until January 19.
The measure would include a short-term re-authorization of a government spy program and nearly $3 billion in funding for the Children’s Health Insurance program.
The House is at a standstill — and has been in recess, with no indication of when a possible vote would be held — as GOP leaders work behind the scenes to wrangle the votes necessary to pass the bill.
Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi encouraged her members to vote against a short-term continuing resolution in a dear colleagues letter earlier in the week. Democrats were also seeking to add an extension or permanent legislative version of the DACA — Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals — program, but that will not be in the bill.
“I don’t think there are going to be any Dem votes there,” Rep. Richard Hudson, a Republican from North Carolina, said Wednesday evening.
At a weekly meeting for the House Democratic whip team Thursday, leaders reiterated that there have been no efforts to engage in any bipartisan talks and they are urging their members to vote no on both the stopgap funding bill and the disaster aid package.
Republicans are also trying to pass a separate package to aid disaster zones that were affected by hurricanes and fires.
“They are on their own,” a senior House Democratic leadership aide told CNN about the Republicans. This aide acknowledged that some Democrats from affected states may vote for the bill providing resources to rebuild after a series of storms.
If the House Republicans can’t get their votes to move their own strategy, multiple aides believe the Senate will go ahead and just pass a clean CR with a short term patch for the children’s health program and the surveillance program.
President Donald Trump tweeted Thursday morning that it was up to Republicans now to ensure the government keeps running.
“House Democrats want a SHUTDOWN for the holidays in order to distract from the very popular, just passed, Tax Cuts. House Republicans, don’t let this happen. Pass the C.R. TODAY and keep our Government OPEN!” Trump tweeted.
If the House does pass a bill, the legislation will still have to go to the US Senate where Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will need at least eight Democratic votes at least to keep the government open.
This story has been updated and will continue to update with additional developments.
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