WASHINGTON, Dec. 1 (UPI) — House Republican leaders say they’re confident the $1.1 trillion spending bill now on the table will be approved by the deadline of Dec. 11, averting a government shutdown.
In a closed-door meeting of Republican members of the House, Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., worked to keep members unified, telling them, “keep your schedules flexible, (because) we’re not going to allow Democrats to use the calendar against us,” a source who was in the meeting told Politico.
The comments reflect Ryan’s interest in a short-term funding bill if Democrats elect to delay proceedings, as well as his desire to discourage conflict within the party.
Ryan also predicted there would be no shutdown owing to some Republicans’ desires to see Planned Parenthood defunded. He is encouraging GOP members of the House to vote in favor of the $1.1 trillion spending bill to fund all operations of the federal government for another year.
“I do not see a shutdown happening in this process,” House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy R-Calif., said Monday.
Passage of the bill is Ryan’s first major test as speaker. Prior spending bills, under the leadership of former Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, were typically made available to members of Congress only at the last minute, and conservative GOP members, removed from the process, often voted against the bills and against Boehner’s leadership.
