Three of Congress’s top four leaders had a loud and unified message for Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) when they met with him at the White House on Tuesday: Ignore the pressure from conservative critics and avoid a government shutdown on Friday.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) emerged from the meeting, which participants described as “intense” and “passionate,” feeling somewhat reassured that Johnson heard their pleas.
“It was a productive and intense meeting,” Schumer said outside the White House. “We made it so clear that we can’t have the shutdown because it hurts so many people in so many different ways.”
Schumer said “the Speaker did not reject” the warning and “said he wants to avoid a government shutdown.”
Jeffries said after the meeting that the atmosphere was “intense” as leaders in the room, which included President Biden and Vice President Harris, emphasized “the need to avoid a government shutdown and to fund the government so we can address the needs of the American public.”
He said negotiators are making “real progress” on the appropriations bills for federal departments and agencies that will see their funding lapse after March 1 without congressional action. Those bills include funding for military construction and the departments of Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, Energy, Transportation and Housing and Urban Development.
“I’m cautiously optimistic that we can do what is necessary in the next day or so to close down these bills and avoid a government shutdown,” he said.
But he also warned that Congress may have to pass another stopgap spending measure to give negotiators more time to reach a deal to fund the departments of Defense, Homeland Security, Health and Human Services and other agencies that will see their funding lapse after a second March 8 deadline.
A Republican senator who requested anonymity to discuss internal strategy for avoiding a government shutdown said the objective of the White House meeting was to pile pressure on Johnson.
“When you can demonstrate it’s kind of three against one, you can kind of pressure or influence someone, and I hope that’s what he senses,” the senator said.
“This is a bipartisan effort to ensure that we’re doing the right thing and keeping the government open, and it’s okay for him to have a bipartisan vote” to pass funding legislation to avoid a shutdown, the senator added.
The other leaders in the room also presented a unified front to Johnson on the need to pass a Senate-approved foreign aid package that includes $60 billion for Ukraine.
McConnell was the first person in the meeting to lay out the reasons to Johnson for not waiting longer to pass military aid for Ukraine, which faces losing ground to Russia because of dwindling supplies.
Speaking to reporters afterward, McConnell said he hoped Johnson would bring the foreign aid package up for a vote.
“What I hope is that the House would take up the Senate bill and let the House work its way,” he said. “If they change it and send it back here, we have further delay. Not only do we not want to shut the government down, we don’t want the Russians to win in Ukraine.
“And so we have a time problem here. And the best way to move quickly and to get the bill to the president would be for the House to take up the Senate bill and pass it,” he added.
The Republican senator conceded that Johnson could face a motion to vacate the Speaker’s chair if he angers House conservatives but warned there’s no chance he can pass legislation to keep the government funded without Democratic votes.
A Senate Republican aide warned a government shutdown would be “dumb on policy and political grounds” and acknowledged that GOP senators aren’t sure how Johnson will react to pressure from House conservatives who are pushing to add policy riders that are a…
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