Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is already facing the first big test of his nascent Speakership as he stares down a tight window to avoid a government shutdown.
Government funding is set to run out Nov. 17, plunging Johnson straight into the same obstacle course that helped cost his predecessor the Speakership.
Johnson has said he wants to prioritize passing full-year spending bills, while proposing a stopgap measure that would run through at least January.
But as the House reopens and Republicans gear up for a potential showdown with the Democratic-led Senate over spending, major questions are up in the air about the party’s strategy over the next few weeks.
“I know those discussions are going on at the highest levels. It’s just among the critical issues that the new Speaker is going to have to wrestle with” Rep. Steve Womack (R-Ark.), chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government, told reporters on Thursday.
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