House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) this week successfully jammed through an aid package for Israel that also slashed funding for the Internal Revenue Service.
However, Punchbowl News reports that Johnson is "about to run into a legislative buzzsaw" given that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and even many Senate Republicans have signaled that Johnson's package is dead on arrival.
The report explains that Schumer is now preparing to put through an aid package with bipartisan support that will not only provide military aid to Israel, but also provide funding for Ukraine and resources aimed at securing the United States-Mexico border.'
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When that happens, Johnson will come under heavy pressure to pass it given Israel's significant short-term needs, although he has vowed to resist any efforts to force his hand.
If that weren't enough, Johnson also needs to figure out how to avert a government shutdown in the coming weeks and Punchbowl News says he's pushing a highly unorthodox strategy to make that happen.
"On Thursday, the speaker floated a bizarre plan hatched by Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.) — a 'laddered CR,'" the publication writes. "The scheme, which Johnson only described obliquely, would extend government funding agency by agency for different periods of time. This could effectively create a cascade of government shutdown threats over the next few months. Even GOP leadership aides found the plan bizarre and were alarmed Johnson mentioned it."
