The House of Representatives will vote this afternoon on a continuing resolution to fund the government through March 22 and prevent yet another government shutdown at midnight Saturday.

The House vote is part of a deal struck Wednesday between House Speaker Mike Johnson, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, and minority leaders Senator Mitch McConnell and Representative Hakeem Jeffries that guarantees the passage of 2024 appropriation bills some six months into the fiscal year.

House & Senate top leaders announce 2024 gov't funding agreement ahead of Friday's midnight deadline: "To allow members 72 hrs to review, a short-term continuing resolution to fund agencies through March 8 & the 22 will be necessary, & voted on by the House and Senate this week.” pic.twitter.com/14JSLqVCC5

— Craig Caplan (@CraigCaplan) February 28, 2024

House and Senate negotiators have agreed on the Agriculture-FDA, Energy-Water, Military Construction-VA, Transportation-HUD, Interior-Environment, and Commerce-Justice-Science bills. These bills will receive a vote on March 8. The rest of the government, including the more contentious Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, and the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, will receive a vote on March 22.

The bottom line here is that the bills have been finalized, and while there may be some drama surrounding their passage, they will pass.

The Freedom Caucus isn't happy.

The first installment of the Omnibus is allegedly coming up for a vote next week.

They’ve been writing this behemoth behind closed doors for weeks.

If just 1/3 of US Representatives will oppose it we can stop this monstrosity. https://t.co/np0ZZeSpnp

— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) February 28, 2024

As has become the norm, Congress is passing massive bills lumping together several unrelated agencies to ensure passage. And there is no evidence that the Homeland Security bill will increase border security.

"We have a fundamental responsibility under the Constitution of the United States to use the power of the purse to check an executive branch that is not following the law."

💯💯💯 pic.twitter.com/FTHNHfcQOz

— Rep. Chip Roy Press Office (@RepChipRoy) February 29, 2024

Several Republicans have signaled they will not support the short-term continuing resolution. 

While the short-term continuing resolution will probably pass, I think the fate of the larger bills facing votes in March is more doubtful.

The head of the hard-line House Freedom Caucus is bashing the nascent funding agreement hashed out by leaders of both parties, warning that conservatives would be willing to force a government shutdown to secure steeper cuts and policy preferences. 

Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.) has led the charge among the far-right lawmakers urging Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to fight for scores of conservative policy riders to accompany the 2024 spending bills. Absent that, those Republicans want the Speaker to champion a stopgap bill, known as a continuing resolution (CR), to extend government funding at current 2023 levels through the remainder of the fiscal year, which ends on Oct. 1. 

The latter strategy would trigger an automatic, 1 percent cut to federal programs of all types beginning May 1 — a stipulation of last summer’s bipartisan Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA) designed to encourage lawmakers to reach an agreement on 2024 spending or face reductions to popular programs.

None of this looks good for Speaker Johnson.

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has once again found himself in a familiar position: in trouble.

For the third time under his speakership, Congress is barrelling toward a government shutdown. And for the third time, House Republicans are taking to their standard punt formation.

...

One House GOP lawmaker told The Daily Beast that they learned about the spending agreement from Twitter.

“The way he’s handled this whole thing is abysmal. I mean, there’s been zero communication with the conference. He can do a much better job,” this Republican lawmaker said. “I still really don’t know everything that’s involved in it. I haven’t heard from his mouth yet. That’s the most concerning.”

Johnson’s communication style with members has been a recurring grievance among Republicans. On Friday, Johnson hosted a call with the House GOP conference, and lawmakers anticipated he would propose a blueprint to avert a shutdown.

Those expectations were quickly dashed.

Rather than offer a firm vision on the call, Johnson was wishy-washy, according to multiple sources. His murky potential paths forward came with built in wiggle room. Lawmakers left the call questioning why Johnson wasted his breath.

“This is pointless,” the GOP lawmaker texted The Daily Beast during the call.

Though Johnson is not in danger of being removed from office, his ability to lead the House GOP at this critical time is certainly a huge question mark.