Mike Johnson eyes Wednesday vote with end of government shutdown in sight

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is anticipating the House could vote to end the government shutdown as early as Wednesday, Fox News Digital is told.

The House GOP leader held a lawmaker-only call late on Monday morning where he urged Republicans to return to Washington as soon as possible for what is expected to be just a single day of voting before a full session week begins on Nov. 17.

‘We’re going to plan on voting, on being here, at least by Wednesday,’ Johnson said, Fox News Digital was told. ‘It is possible that things could shift a little bit later in the week, but right now we think we’re on track for a vote on Wednesday. So we need you here.’

He told House GOP lawmakers that the earliest possible vote he could anticipate would be on Wednesday morning, but he later shifted that estimate to the afternoon or evening that day given some Republicans’ schedules this week.

At least several House lawmakers would have to shift district events marking Veterans Day on Tuesday to return by Johnson’s deadline.

One Republican on the call said they would fly to D.C. early on Wednesday morning due to a large-scale event with military veterans the day prior, Fox News Digital was told.

Johnson signaled the House would not move to fast-track the legislation via suspension of the rules, which would bypass procedural hurdles in exchange for raising the passage threshold to two-thirds of the chamber.

Fox News Digital was told the House Rules Committee, the final barrier before a chamber-wide vote, could consider the legislation as early as Tuesday.

It’s not a surprising move, given House Democratic leaders’ opposition to the bill.

Several House Democrats have also declared they will vote against the measure because it does not include any guarantees on extending COVID-19 pandemic-era enhanced Obamacare subsidies that are set to expire at the end of this year.

The House could send President Donald Trump a bill to end the government shutdown as early as Wednesday evening if their current estimates hold.

But their movements will largely depend on what happens in the Senate, where eight Democrats joined Republicans Sunday night to break a filibuster on the shutdown’s 40th day.

But there are several votes left and procedural roadblocks that could be weaponized that could grind the Senate’s march to advance its package to the House to a halt. If all 100 senators agree to fast-track the process, the package could move as quickly as Monday night.

But if not, the bipartisan plan could stagnate in the upper chamber for several days.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., was optimistic that the Senate could finish its work Monday night but said that would be up to Senate Democrats.

‘Obviously, there are objections from the left, but as long as the votes are there to proceed, we will move forward, and hopefully without a lot of disruption or delay or fanfare right now,’ Thune said. ‘The point is, we are on a path to get the government reopened, and we should try to get it done as soon as possible.’

Schumer didn’t say whether Democrats would block any attempt to move the process along but did blame President Donald Trump and Republicans for the shutdown, which stretched into its 41st day on Monday.

Whether Senate Democrats are in line with a cohesive strategy to block the package remains to be seen. But Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., told Fox News Digital that he ‘didn’t hear anything’ about objections or blocks during the Democratic caucus’ closed-door meeting Sunday night.