GOP blasts Mike Johnson’s 'status quo' spending plan with days left until shutdown

Despite being elected via unanimous vote from his Republican colleagues, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) does not have enough support to pass his government funding plan without Democratic votes.

ABC News reports that Johnson is proposing a "laddered" solution to avoid a government shutdown, which would happen at the end of the week if President Joe Biden doesn't have an appropriations package to sign into law. Under Johnson's plan, there would be two new, separate funding deadlines for Congress to meet — one on January 19 and one on February 2 — with current funding levels for all agencies maintained in the meantime.

In order to pass the House without Democratic votes, Johnson can only avoid four defections from his own caucus. However, there are now at least six Republicans going on the record in opposition, meaning the new speaker will need buy-in from across the aisle if he hopes to get the majority necessary to send the appropriations bill to the US Senate. Currently, Reps. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio), Bob Good (R-Virginia), Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia), Scott Perry (R-Pennsylvania), Chip Roy (R-Texas) and George Santos (R-New York) have informed Johnson they plan to vote no to the bill in its current form.

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"The current short-term funding proposal includes a 1-year extension of the Farm Bill (no reform), status quo policies, and status quo funding levels. Disappointing is as polite as I can muster. I will be voting NO," Rep. Davidson tweeted. "Hopefully, the consensus will result in a more reasonable bill."

The ball is now in the court of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York), who has not yet indicated how he wants his caucus to vote. While Jeffries previously spoke out against a laddered solution, he also warned his colleagues against the danger of a government shutdown.

"We must keep the government open and stop the extremists from hurting America’s economy," Jeffries tweeted Friday.

Johnson defended his proposal by saying it would "stop the absurd holiday-season omnibus tradition of massive, loaded up spending bills introduced right before the Christmas recess," adding that his laddered approach "places our conference in the best position to fight for fiscal responsibility, oversight over Ukraine aid, and meaningful policy changes at our Southern border."

READ MORE: 'New speaker, nothing's changed': Mike Johnson unable to corral GOP colleagues as shutdown looms

If Johnson does win over enough Democratic votes to pass his spending plan, it could potentially provoke some of the most extreme members of the House Republican Conference to put another motion to vacate on the floor. In October, former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-California) became the first sitting speaker in US history to be stripped of the gavel in a motion to vacate after he worked with Democrats to avert a shutdown.