The White House dismissed the stopgap funding bill proposed by House Speaker Mike Johnson R-La. as “extreme” and “unserious”.
Johnson unveiled what he calls a “two-step continuing resolution” Saturday to avert a Nov. 18 government shutdown. The plan involves extending government funding for some agencies and programs until Jan. 19 and continuing funding for others until Feb. 2.
He argued in a statement that such a plan is necessary “to place House Republicans in the best position to fight for conservative victories.”
“The bill will stop the absurd holiday-season omnibus tradition of massive, loaded up spending bills introduced right before the Christmas recess,” he added.
The bill does not include any funding for Israel, Ukraine and the U.S-Mexico border as requested by President Biden.
In a statement on Saturday, the White House panned the proposal as “unserious”.
“This proposal is just a recipe for more Republican chaos and more shutdowns—full stop,” Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre wrote in a statement.
“With just days left before an Extreme Republican Shutdown—and after shutting down Congress for three weeks after they ousted their own leader—House Republicans are wasting precious time with an unserious proposal that has been panned by members of both parties,” Jean-Pierre continued. “An Extreme Republican Shutdown would put critical national security and domestic priorities at risk, including by forcing service members to work without pay.”
“This comes just days after House Republicans were forced to pull two of their own extreme appropriations bills from the floor—further deepening their dysfunction,” she said.
Congress passed a 45-day continuing resolution on September 30 to fund the government through November 17. Republicans passed the bill through the House with the help of Democrats, which subsequently led to then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s (R-Calif.) ouster.
