With a month to either fund the government or let it shut down, House Republicans thus far have instead scuttled an immigration bill, halted Ukraine aid and been embarrassed in two impeachment dramas.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, nearly risking his new vaunted position, promised his GOP caucus last month that it would be the last time he’d ask them to support a short-term funding plan to avert a government shutdown.
After all, the Louisiana Republican rose to the speakership in part on a pledge to do away once and for all with continuing resolutions – the stopgap spending packages that led to the ouster of his predecessor, Kevin McCarthy.