Major victory for Johnson: House of Representatives passes spending bill to avoid shutdown

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Republican Mike Johnson, has just won his first major victory as speaker after the House passed his continuing resolution plan that will prevent a government shutdown if the Senate approves the resolution.

This was a political triumph for Johnson since the US government would run out of money at 12:01 a.m. on Saturday if Congress didn't act quickly. The approval in the House is a good sign that the law will come to fruition since senators from both parties have given their approval.

However, beyond the approval, the most conservative group in the House, the Freedom Caucus, announced its opposition to the bill because the spending cuts they intended would not be made and they also failed to include the border security measures they were looking for.

Although the approval of the resolution is a victory for Johnson, it puts him in a complicated situation since his predecessor, Kevin McCarthy, was removed from office due to a vote of similar characteristics.

Democrats and Republicans considered moderate generally viewed Johnson's plan favorably, and Joe Biden himself is expected to sign the law if it reaches his desk.

In fact, the continuing resolution needed two-thirds of the House to pass to the Senate and obtained the necessary votes: 336 votes in favor compared to 95 against.

This time, the law required a two-thirds majority because the majority party, the GOP, could not agree to approve a "rule," which is a procedural vote that paves the way for bills to be passed with a simple majority. But with the bipartisan consensus, the most conservative representatives were offside.

According to Reuters, this provisional spending law would extend government financing until early 2024.

This gives representatives more time to craft more detailed spending bills covering key sectors ranging from the military to scientific research.

Now, Representative Johnson, who has been speaker for just three weeks, will have to be mindful of his steps to continue maintaining the support of all Republicans in the House, from the most conservative to the most moderate.

For now, hardline legislators have not made calls to go against the speaker.

"This isn't ideal," Republican Rep. Mike Garcia said of the continuing resolution. "But a shutdown is a far worse world to be in."