New bipartisan CR proposal to begin moving through House

The House will likely vote this week on a bipartisan, three-month continuing resolution that will keep the federal government open through Dec. 20, which would avert a partial government shutdown on Oct. 1 but forgoes providing nearly $2 billion in funding for the Virginia-class submarine program.

The proposal emerged over the weekend following last week’s failure of a six-month CR championed by House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) that also included a voting security bill opposed by Democrats. The new CR is considered “clean” by senior Republicans and Democrats in that it does not contain controversial policy riders.

The nearly $2 billion in funds for the attack submarine program had been included in Johnson’s previous CR but is not part of the new bill. The new proposal, however, does allow the Navy to spend military construction funds at the submarine facility in Kings Bay, GA, where boats are maintained and modernized.

The new CR also denies a Pentagon request to extend nearly $6 billion in spending authority that is used to transfer U.S. weapons to Ukraine.

The House Rules Committee is slated to consider the new CR today.

Johnson circulated a memo to GOP lawmakers over the weekend saying the new CR should be passed quickly.

“Our legislation will be a very narrow, bare-bones CR including only the extensions that are absolutely necessary,” he wrote. “While this is not the solution any of us prefer, it is the most prudent path forward under the present circumstances.”

The Democratic majority in the Senate is poised to pass the CR after it clears the House.

“This continuing resolution was a bipartisan compromise -- let’s get it passed and ensure we avert a needless and disastrous government shutdown,” Senate Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray (D-WA) said in a Sunday statement.