Republicans want to prevent a government shutdown – and oppose Trump [Video]

Republicans in the House of Representatives will bow to political realities this week and avert a government shutdown after weeks of false starts and interference by Donald Trump in the election campaign.

The new plan, released Sunday, could be up for a vote as early as Wednesday. It would keep the government running until Dec. 20 and includes other provisions such as an additional $231 million for the Secret Service.

Few seem enthusiastic, including lawmakers who plan to make their vacation plans around the new Dec. 20 deadline, but all key members of Congress have signaled their support. The measure is likely to pass in both the House and Senate before current funding expires on Sept. 30.

The plan does not include ideas that House Speaker Mike Johnson and Republican nominee Donald Trump have spent weeks saying were essential, including a Republican-backed election security proposal that Democrats rejected, and ideas to keep the government open until 2025 and defer that issue to the next president.

“As we have missed the finish line a little, an alternative plan is now required,” Johnson wrote in a letter to colleagues on Sunday, adding: “While this is not the solution that any of us prefer, it is the most prudent way forward in the current circumstances.”

Read more: What happens to Social Security payments during a government shutdown?

Johnson's new Plan B is likely to prevent an economically and politically damaging shutdown just weeks before the election, but the concession could become a new source of conflict with Trump.

The Republican candidate had previously stated that Republicans should not agree to “a continuation resolution in any way, shape or form” without the now-deleted provisions. He has not commented on the matter since Johnson's about-face.

Johnson and other Republicans had tried to accommodate Trump in the House vote last week, but even that failed in the House when 14 Republicans voted against the package, causing it to fail by a vote of 202 to 220.

This week's vote is sure to be different, with Democrats expected to sign off on the simplified plan that would delay talks on a government shutdown beyond the November election so all sides can get back on the campaign trail.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer expressed support for the bill in his own comments, but added: “This same agreement could have been made two weeks ago.”

A further increase in Washington’s “risk profile”

However, experts often point out that while this outcome was predictable, it could still be a further blow to the US credit rating and further unstable the relationship between the private sector and the government.

Raymond James recently advised its clients that this back and forth “increases the risk profile and increases uncertainty.”

The government's recent confrontational policies have been in the focus of rating agencies in recent years, especially after Fitch downgraded the U.S. government's credit rating from AAA to AA+ in 2023.

Moody's followed later in the year, but did not downgrade the U.S. government's credit outlook, but changed it to “negative” from “stable.”

Fitch, Moody's and S&P Global Ratings – which downgraded the US credit rating in 2011 – have all cited the governments' protracted standoffs over public finances and the debt ceiling as their biggest concerns and reasons for their growing skepticism about the US creditworthiness.

This week's agreement is unlikely to permanently allay concerns, with another battle over a government shutdown likely imminent, not to mention the next debt ceiling debate scheduled for early 2025.

Ben Werschkul is Washington correspondent for Yahoo Finance.

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