Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is pushing for an “old-school conference” to approve up to three regular government funding bills, with the House’s top GOP appropriator signaling they are close to a deal to do just that in conjunction with a stopgap.
Such a move, if Democrats agree, could avert a government shutdown at the end of the month — but would conflict with hardliners in the House GOP who are advocating for a long-term continuing resolution as long as a year.
“What we’re really advocating for is an actual, old-school conference, the way this is supposed to work, between the House and Senate,” Johnson said in a press conference on Tuesday.
He is referring to the process of a formal committee to reconcile differences between the House and Senate on appropriations bills that have passed each chamber. That process has almost never been used in recent years as lawmakers have deferred to funding largely negotiated by party leaders.
Johnson said that leadership is most interested in getting the annual bill funding the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and military construction to a conference, but it could also include full-year funding plans for the Agriculture Department (USDA) and the legislative branch — two more of the 12 regular appropriations bills. The Senate passed those measures in a funding package last month that also included the annual VA funding plan.
If the plan succeeds, those full-year bills would be passed alongside a stopgap to fund the remainder of the government while lawmakers continue negotiating.
A conference committee would be made up of appropriators on the relevant subcommittees.
“You’d have a cross-section of representation there, a good representation of the country, a good and I think vigorous debate between the House and Senate, and that is how the process is supposed to work,” Johnson said. “I mean, that is small-d democracy at its best, so we’re big advocates of that.”
“We have not done the appropriations process the way it is legally supposed to work in a long, long time around here, and we’re trying to force — force — the body back to that, and if we can get to a conference committee that’s the first, next important step in returning to that, so that’s what we’re advocating for,” Johnson said.
House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole (R-Okla.) signaled optimism about bipartisan funding talks on Tuesday and said lawmakers are “pretty close to an agreement” when pressed on the duration of a potential stopgap.
“I mean, we’re not interested in just a CR by itself. I want to move some product as well, to show good faith with our members that we are moving things,” Cole told reporters Tuesday. He added that bicameral discussions are underway “about how to proceed and whether or not we can come to an agreement on these three bills where, if you look at them, we’re not very far apart.”
Cole pointed to the Senate when asked whether lawmakers would have a formal conference to hash out funding differences, noting timing constraints.
“That really gets up [to] the Senate. Because I would prefer a formal conference. I think that’s what we should do,” he said. “But they’d have to give up three days on the floor unless they have a unanimous consent agreement with the Democrats, and so that’s something they have to work out amongst themselves.”
Discussing the difference between a formal and informal conference, Cole told reporters that the former would allow for more involvement from members.
“A formal one, everybody’s involved,” he said. “You get a much better reflection.”
“If you do an informal one, basically, it’s the subcommittee chairmen negotiating, the Big Four, sorting it out,” he said, referring to the four top funding negotiators in the House and Senate on both sides. “I would prefer much more member involvement, and I know the Speaker would.”
Appropriators in both chambers are pushing for a stopgap sometime into November to buy time for a larger fiscal 2026 government funding deal. However, some conservatives have been pushing for keeping funding at current levels for the next fiscal year. The White House has also been pushing for a stopgap into next year.
In remarks on Tuesday, House Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Harris (R-Md.), who heads the subcommittee that crafts the annual bill funding the USDA and rural development, voiced doubts about the ambitious bid by his colleagues and has floated a funding stopgap through most of next year.
“If we want to do a very short CR into the middle of October to see if we can negotiate that minibus, that’s fine,” he said. “But beyond that, I think you got to go into next year.”
“If the purpose is to see if we can negotiate a successful minibus, but again, I’m skeptical about whether that can be done on the [agricultural funding bill], in terms of the level funding issue,” he said.
He also said he supports a conference, but added, “I just don’t believe the Senate’s going to agree to level funding from this year.”
Several members of the House Freedom Caucus, however, have pushed for a full-year continuing resolution to fund the government, wary of a short-term stopgap leading to increases in government spending or a boated omnibus.
