Republican US House Speaker Johnson nears choice on avoiding gov't shutdown

By David Morgan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Speaker Mike Johnson told key Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday that he will decide within the next two days on a path to avert a potential government shutdown, according to lawmakers.

The Republican-controlled House and Democratic-led Senate have just over a week to agree on a stopgap spending measure to keep federal agencies open after current funding expires on Nov. 17. The House could vote on such a plan on Tuesday, three days before the deadline, according to some lawmakers.

Despite signs of some bipartisan discussion between the chambers, Johnson is focused on his own 221-212 House majority, which is struggling to agree on detailed spending plans for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2024.

In May, Democratic President Joe Biden and then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy set a $1.59 trillion discretionary spending budget. Hardline Republicans later removed McCarthy as speaker and now are pushing for an additional $120 billion in cuts.

Johnson told top Republican members of the House Appropriations Committee that he would decide on a stopgap measure within 24 to 48 hours, according to lawmakers who met with him behind closed doors on Wednesday.

"The speaker said, you know, he's going to make a decision by the weekend," Representative Andy Harris, told reporters.

The choice will test Johnson's effectiveness as the top Republican in Congress, just two weeks after he was chosen following nearly a month of Republican infighting.

McCarthy was ousted on Oct. 3 days after Republicans failed to agree on a stopgap measure and had to rely on Democratic support to avert a shutdown.

Some Republicans have called for any stopgap measure to include spending cuts and conservative policy priorities that Democrats reject outright.

"They will not change our position by threatening a shutdown. They will not extract any ransom note from us," House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries told reporters.

Johnson, 51, a relative novice in leadership politics with few political enemies, continues to enjoy goodwill within the fractious House Republican caucus.

The House has passed seven partisan Republican appropriations bills. But the remaining five are facing headwinds. Republican leaders dropped plans to vote this week on a spending bill for transportation, housing and urban development due in part to an absence of funding for the U.S. passenger railroad Amtrak.

After electoral victories for abortion rights advocates in Ohio and Virginia on Tuesday, centrist Republicans signaled opposition to a financial services appropriations bill over a provision to restrict funding for the District of Columbia over a local law banning employer discrimination against women who seek an abortion or contraception.

The Senate, meanwhile, has passed three appropriations bills with strong bipartisan support and could begin moving forward on a stopgap measure this week.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, the top Democrat in Congress, indicated this week that staff of the top party leaders in the House and Senate are in discussion about averting a shutdown.

"We hope we can get bipartisan agreement to move forward as quickly as possible," Schumer told reporters.

(Reporting by David Morgan; Editing by Scott Malone and David Gregorio)