McConnell and Johnson at odds over CR as spending deadline fast approaches

Sen. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., are at odds over a path to government funding as the first deadline quickly approaches on Jan. 19. 

McConnell said Tuesday that Congress will have to pass another continuing resolution (CR) to prevent a government shutdown, but Johnson has asserted opposition to another CR agreement. 

“And so the question is, how long does the CR need to be? And that’ll be up to the majority leader and the speaker to determine the length of the CR,” McConnell told reporters following the GOP’s weekly luncheon. 

In November, Johnson stated he was “done” with short-term funding patches, known as a CR, which would fund government agencies temporarily until a permanent deal for the year is passed — placing him at odds with Republican leaders in the Senate. 

Sen. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., are at odds over a path to government funding. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

On Jan. 19, funding will expire for several federal departments, including Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, Energy, Transportation and Housing and Urban Development. 

On Feb. 2, Homeland Security, Labor, Health and Human Services, and the Defense Departments will also run out of funding. 

“The simplest things take a week in the Senate,” McConnell said. “I think frequently, the House doesn’t understand how long it takes to get something through the Senate.”

Only three of the 12 spending bills the upper chamber’s appropriations committee approved have been passed. 

Sen. Majority Whip John Thune, R-S.D., added that a CR is “highly likely” for continued government funding “for the foreseeable future.”

US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (L), Democrat of New York; and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky, pose for a photo before a meeting with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, prior to a meeting on July 27, 2023. (Saul Loeb)

“We’re not going to get all the appropriations bills done by the coming deadline,” Thune said, adding that a CR is an “inevitability.”

Meanwhile, Johnson and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. agreed to a “topline” spending figure of $1.59 trillion for the next fiscal year this week. 

Fox News Digital has reached out to Johnson’s office for comment.