Johnson's government funding timeline differs from other Republicans' plans

After a weekend spent with President-elect Donald Trump, House Speaker Mike Johnson laid out a tentative plan on Sunday to keep the government funded that, if passed, could tee up a funding fight in the earliest days of Trump’s second term.

During an appearance on "Fox News Sunday," Johnson said if the House can’t finish individual funding bills then “we’ll have a temporary measure. I think that would go into the first part of next year and allow us the necessary time to get this done.”

Congress must take some action to avert a government shutdown before Dec. 20, when current funding will expire.

But the plan Johnson outlined is far from what other Republicans in both the House and Senate have previously advocated for. Many Republicans were hopeful Congress would act during the lame duck session to fund the government through the end of the fiscal year in October.

How Congress proceeds in the next few weeks could set the table for what Trump’s earliest legislative actions will be.

The Johnson plan

The plan Johnson outlined would see current government funding levels extended through March, giving a Republican-controlled Congress the ability to shape a funding bill almost immediately after Trump assumes the presidency.

Though Johnson said he’ll continue to work to fund the government before the December deadline, he ultimately endorsed a short term funding bill that would kick the deadline into next spring.

“I think that would be ultimately a good move because the country would benefit from it, because then you'd have Republican control. And we'd have a little more say in what those spending bills are,” Johnson told Fox News.

If Congress waits until the spring to fund the government, Republicans will control the House, Senate and White House, possibly buying them more leverage in negotiations, but it hasn’t always worked out that way.

Trump was handed this sort of situation as he entered office for his first term. In December 2016, with Trump having clinched the presidency and Republicans preparing to take control of both the House and Senate the next month, Congress decided to kick the deadline to fund the government to April 2017.

But that extended funding deadline didn’t necessarily buy Republican major wins. Though Trump did have more ability to influence that funding bill as a result of the delay, he still ended up having to make concessions, including a delay in funding of his border wall, in order to get the government funded in time. Congress, hamstrung by a pending funding deadline, spent much of Trump’s first 100 days squabbling over funding rather than focusing on building out new policy.

Ultimately, Trump signed a largely bipartisan funding bill into law in early May, averting a government shutdown by mere hours.

Johnson’s proposal could also potentially protect him from a public funding fight with his far-right flank just weeks before the House will once again vote on whether Johnson keeps his gavel, though these members are also generally opposed to short-term funding bills like the one Johnson is pitching.

Trump endorsed Johnson last week to lead House Republicans in the 119th Congress, calling him a “good guy.”

Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy was ousted from his role largely because of his failure to enact budget cuts palatable to his far-right members.

Keeping a low profile with a short-term funding extension may, therefore, be just what Johnson needs headed into the speaker election.

What other Republicans want

Johnson’s pitch is in sharp difference from what other Republicans have telegraphed in recent weeks.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise told reporters he wants to pass government funding through the end of September 2025 to avoid any delays in Trump’s first 100 days.

Senate Republicans have similarly expressed interest in locking in a deal to keep the government funded through to October.

Sen. Susan Collins of Maine is the top Republican appropriator in the Senate. Last week, before Johnson outlined his plan, Collins said she would continue to advocate for Congress to fund the government through September with regular-order appropriations bills instead of a short-term bill like the one Johnson is proposing.

“In my judgment that is better for the incoming administration because that gives them a clean slate, and they can start focusing on the budget for Fiscal Year '26,” Collins said last week.

Democrats also have cards to play. The government funding deadline falls before the new Congress is sworn in and before Trump is inaugurated. With the Senate in their control, Democrats are better positioned to negotiate a full-year funding bill that locks in their priorities now than they will be in the new year.

But any effort to complete a full year’s worth of funding bills will need to be quickly expedited to get things completed before the deadline. The Senate has still not passed any of the individual funding bills, and top appropriators need to agree on a top-line funding bill.