adminHouse Republicans are pursuing a two-step plan for funding the government, three sources familiar with the matter told CNN, as Congress barrels toward another spending deadline next Friday.
Newly elected House Speaker Mike Johnson announced the plan on a GOP conference call with members Saturday afternoon and argued “I wasn’t the architect of the mess we are in,” according to a source on the call.
While Johnson embraced the right wing of his conference by pitching the two-step approach, he didn’t fully cave to their wishes. The package does not include the deep spending cuts that his right flank pushed for but instead extends funding at its current levels.
“This two-step continuing resolution is a necessary bill to place House Republicans in the best position to fight for conservative victories,” Johnson said in statement Saturday.
The first bill would extend funding until January 19 and would include military construction, Veterans Affairs, and the Energy Department. The second part of the bill, which would extend funding until February 2, would include funding for the rest of the government.
The proposals would extend funding at current levels, and neither bill includes additional aid for Israel or Ukraine.
The two-step approach was widely pushed by Republican hardliners but dismissed by many senators as a complicated solution that was hard to implement and execute.
This is a breaking story and will be updated.
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