Speaker Mike Johnson and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries discussed extending government funding past a Sept. 30 deadline into November or December when the two spoke last week, according to three people granted anonymity to discuss the private conversation.
Two of the people familiar with the call said Johnson floated the short-term stopgap to Jeffries, which would avoid a government shutdown on Oct. 1 and delay what could be a bitter standoff over federal spending.
Senior Republicans discussed the upcoming funding deadline during a closed-door meeting in Johnson’s office Tuesday afternoon. Johnson said in the meeting that Jeffries floated passing a continuing resolution to keep government funded.
“The question was raised several times, and there is no plan yet,” said one person granted anonymity to describe the private meeting in the speaker’s office.
Johnson told reporters he was still building consensus within his GOP ranks about the precise duration of a potential stopgap, while House Majority Leader Steve Scalise said Tuesday that GOP leaders are also talking with Appropriations Chair Tom Cole (R-Okla.) pursuing a broader government funding deal with Democrats in the meantime.
Jeffries told reporters Tuesday he had a “general conversation” with Johnson last week and stressed the need for negotiations among congressional leaders, which have not yet begun with just four weeks until government funding lapses.
“I also made clear we’re not going to support partisan funding legislation, period,” Jeffries added.
Asked if he thought Republicans could get a short-term CR across the floor before Sept. 30, Texas Rep. August Pfluger, chair of the Republican Study Committee, said leaving the meeting Tuesday that “it’s been done before.”
House Republicans under Johnson pulled off a major feat this spring when they united behind a plan to pass a full-year continuing resolution, which forced Senate Democrats to swallow a GOP-written bill they opposed to avoid taking blame for a shutdown.
Asked if House Republicans could pass a CR by themselves if they had to, Scalise said, “We’ve proven in the past that if need be, we will get there on our own.”
“But right now,” he added, “we’re trying to get a bipartisan deal, and I have complete confidence in Chairman Cole and his ability to find willing participants on the other side.”
