Mike Johnson's government funding gambit

Per Axios, House Speaker Mike Johnson plans to hold a vote next week on a short-term government funding bill—more than two months before money actually runs out. Here's the political calculus: if the vote fails, it gives him justification to move government funding into a September reconciliation bill, where Republicans could slip in sixty-seven billion dollars for Pentagon munitions without needing Democratic votes. Senate Republicans, though, are skeptical about abandoning the normal spending process. The strategy hinges on Republicans actually passing that third reconciliation bill—something many lawmakers still doubt.

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