The longest government shutdown in U.S. history should come to an end Wednesday night.
The House is planning to return around 4 p.m. Wednesday and start voting soon after Speaker Mike Johnson swears in Rep-elect. Adelita Grijalva (D-N.M.).
If all goes as planned, the shutdown-ending bill should be passed and on its way to President Donald Trump in just a few hours.
Under the plan advanced by the Rules Committee early Wednesday morning after a seven-hour meeting, GOP leaders are preparing for a swift process. Following the rule vote, there will be one hour of debate and a vote on final passage. No amendments have been made in order.
Democrats are planning to cast a procedural vote on the rule as an opportunity to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies, two people with knowledge of the plans tell Meredith Lee Hill. But Republicans will block it, and there are no other plans right now to delay a final vote.
The typical GOP defectors, meanwhile, are quiet. Even if the likes of Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) or Victoria Spartz (R-Ind.) oppose it, Johnson can afford to lose their votes. Democrats are whipping their caucus against the bill, but a few centrists could break ranks.
Don’t expect members to hang around after the vote. The House will adjourn for the weekend and return Monday through Friday of next week before Thanksgiving break.
But there is already a busy schedule set for next week, with committees expediting what they were expected to do over the past seven weeks. GOP leaders have already advised members to expect longer votes and extra committee work.
And even after the government is open, the pressure is already on to avoid another shutdown. The new stopgap funding plan punts the next deadline to Jan. 30 — meaning appropriators will have to get to work almost immediately to avoid another shutdown cliff in just two months.
What else we’re watching:
— GOP grumblings at Leg Branch provision: Republicans at the House Rules Committee hearing said they were annoyed at language added to the funding bill by Senate Majority Leader John Thune that would let senators sue the government for having their electronic data records collected. Appropriations Chair Tom Cole (R-Okla.) said he was “surprised” to see the language inserted to the funding bill.
— Epstein files discharge petition: Tuesday afternoon Speaker Mike Johnson will swear in Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva (D-Ariz.), who will provide the final and clinching signature on the discharge petition led by Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Ro Khanna (D-Calif.). From there, the petition will take seven legislative days to ripen before Johnson has two legislative days to schedule a vote. Senior aides in both parties predict a vote will come the first week of December.
— Committee watch: House GOP leadership is telling members to expect lots of committee catch-up work and late nights once the chamber returns to action Wednesday. NDAA negotiations, permitting overhaul and NCAA name, image and likeness legislation are on the agenda for committees when the House is back.
Jordain Carney and Hailey Fuchs contributed to this report.
