Revealing the plan to prevent the US government from shutting down

According to AP, Mr. Johnson’s plan (a Republican member) is to continue funding government agencies and programs until January 19, 2024, and February 2, 2024 (split into two different groups). This is an approach rarely used for temporary federal spending. Normally, lawmakers extend the budget to a certain date for all programs.

Johnson decided to take a hybrid approach, addressing concerns from Republicans who wanted to avoid a massive spending bill just before the holidays. According to him, the "two-step" plan puts House Republicans "in the best position to fight and deliver a victory for the conservatives." The plan does not include the money President Joe Biden has requested for Israel, Ukraine, or the US-Mexico border.

The White House remains at odds with Republicans over the budget.

While they do not support any form of temporary spending, a group of hard-line House Republicans had previously signaled they would facilitate passage of Mr. Johnson’s plan, giving lawmakers more time to negotiate a long-term deal. But some members of the group criticized it shortly after it was unveiled on November 11.

Meanwhile, the Biden administration has called the plan “unserious,” unworkable, and a threat to national security. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Johnson’s proposal was a “recipe” for more Republican chaos and more government shutdowns. “House Republicans need to stop wasting time on their internal divisions, get the job done, and work together bipartisanally to prevent a government shutdown,” she said.

The US federal government is operating under a budget approved by both houses of Congress last year. Facing the risk of a government shutdown when the fiscal year ends on September 30, the US Congress passed a "continuing resolution" (CR) to provide temporary funding for the government for a period of 47 days, or until November 17.

The new stopgap budget plan must pass both the Republican-controlled House and the Democratic-controlled Senate before it can reach President Biden’s desk. If no deal is reached by November 18, the world’s largest economy will feel the impact immediately:

1.5 million federal government employees will not be paid, most federal facilities including national parks will close and sectors such as aviation could be disrupted, according to AFP.

The mistakes of the predecessor

Mr Johnson, who won the House of Commons gavel less than three weeks ago, could jeopardise his own political future if his current plan fails to win enough support to pass and he is forced to come up with a proposal that Democrats can accept.

The US government narrowly avoided a shutdown in early October after Mr Johnson's predecessor, Kevin McCarthy, proposed a bipartisan temporary budget plan, but the move led to Mr McCarthy's ouster just days later and the US House of Representatives being virtually paralysed for a month without a speaker.

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