Congress nears short-term spending deal to avoid shutdown

Congressional leaders are closing in on a deal to avoid a potential government shutdown on Oct. 1, even as Speaker Mike Johnson holds off on publicly blessing the plan.

The forthcoming bill, known as a continuing resolution, is expected to fund the government until mid-December and will not include Republicans’ proposal to require proof of citizenship in order to register to vote. Though talks are continuing, negotiators are hoping to have text finalized this weekend and plan to hold a House vote early next week — a timeline first reported by POLITICO.

“We’re still finalizing some details. … We want to keep it very narrow. And so, hopefully, in the next few days we get it worked out. It's not there yet, but we're getting there,” Majority Leadersc Steve Scalise (R-La.) told reporters on Friday.

On partisan funding bills, Johnson can only lose a few of his own members and get legislation through the House. But the expected spending deal will likely have buy-in from Democrats, meaning it could clear the chamber even if dozens of Republicans oppose it.

Still, the deal isn’t finalized just yet.

Negotiators are looking at two potential end dates for the bill, which both parties are actively helping draft: Dec. 13 or Dec. 20. It’s also expected to include some assistance for a recent spate of natural disasters, though the exact number is still being haggled over.

Another point of contention is whether extra Secret Service funding will be included. Senate appropriators are in talks with the agency about what resources it needs, but using the stopgap bill to give the agency new funding sparked some pushback among Republicans on both sides of the Capitol. Lawmakers are also looking at giving the agency more spending flexibility.

“We're going to try and keep everything clean. So it's going to be as minimal as possible,” Appropriations Chair Tom Cole (R-Okla.) said. “We just want to get something that keeps the government functioning and doesn't cause anybody any problems and lets the election play out.”

Even as spending negotiators are increasingly telegraphing that the House will embrace a stopgap bill in December, Johnson hasn’t yet publicly embraced that plan. Meanwhile, Trump has demanded that Republicans shut down the government without their immigrant voting bill.

“We'll release the bill text as soon as we get all the final decisions made, but we haven’t made those decisions yet,” Johnson said on Friday.

Jennifer Scholtes contributed to this report.