Speaker Johnson Unveils His Ambitious To-Do List for the House

The new speaker started work the first day passing a resolution in support of Israel, but the remaining agenda will test the limits of Republican unity.

House Speaker Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.) (C) speaks during a press conference on the U.S. Capitol steps in Washington on Oct. 25, 2023. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) signaled his eagerness to get the House of Representatives back to work with his first words from the podium.

Immediately after taking the oath of office, the new speaker turned to the full House and asked, “Would you all like to get right into governing?”

After 22 days of inaction, members on both sides of the aisle have been eager to get back to work. Minutes later, the House passed a resolution in support of Israel’s right to defend itself with overwhelming bipartisan support.

The rest of Mr. Johnson’s legislative agenda involves more complicated and divisive matters that will test his ability to maintain the fragile unity of the Republican conference and his pledge to deliver results for Americans.

Here are the new speaker’s legislative priorities for the remainder of the 118th Congress, which he detailed in a letter to colleagues on Oct. 23.

Finish Appropriations By Nov. 17

Congress passed a continuing resolution (CR) on Sept. 30 to extend current government funding for 45 days. Passing that bill cost the former speaker his job. The ensuing battle over the speakership consumed half of the time extension.

Passing the remaining eight appropriations bills is Mr. Johnson’s next priority, he said. He aims to do so starting this week, which will allow the House to negotiate with the Democrat-controlled Senate from “a position of strength.”

That’s exactly what fiscal hawks, including the eight who voted to oust Mr. McCarthy, had been begging for.

Skeptical of continuing resolutions, which tend to produce a laissez-faire attitude toward spending, they were eager to pass single-subject appropriations bills under regular order.

That would allow for debate and amendments to each bill and, they said, make it easier to control spending.

Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.) (L) shakes hands with Rep. Andy Barr (R-Ky.) after his election to be the new speaker of the House, at the U.S. Capitol on Oct. 25, 2023. Win McNamee/Getty Images

But Nov. 17 is less than a month away, which isn’t much time to pass that number of bills, reconcile them with the Senate, and get the president to sign off on them. So Mr. Johnson didn’t rule out the possibility of a second stopgap spending bill.

If needed, he would favor extending the deadline to Jan. 15, 2024, or April 15, 2024, to avoid being forced to accept another massive omnibus spending bill, as was the case last year.

The new speaker has proposed using creative approaches to moving the spending bills quickly, including forcing some bills out of the Appropriations Committee and forming a working group to address problems in the farm bill, which failed to pass in September.

If Mr. Johnson is able to keep on schedule, the appropriations bills will be passed in the next three weeks, just ahead of the Nov. 17 deadline.

Act on Supplemental Funding Request

Beyond regular appropriations, President Joe Biden has requested some $105 billion for emergency aid to Ukraine, Israel, and allies in the Indo-Pacific and for U.S. border security.

This will be tricky for the new speaker because many Republicans are leery of Ukraine aid. Yet there is a strong desire on both sides of the aisle to help Israel.

Many Republicans will almost certainly want those requests unbundled, which could be a test of Mr. Johnson’s ability to keep the conference on the same page.

Finish Farm Bill and NDAA in December

The House passed the National Defense Authorization Act in September, but it hasn’t been reconciled with the Senate through a process known as “conferencing.”

This $886 billion legislation accounts for nearly half of discretionary spending and about 12 percent of all government spending.

Mr. Johnson said he aims to get the bill wrapped up and signed by the end of the year.

The farm bill is another huge piece of legislation, which comes due every five years.

It’s a nearly $100 billion omnibus bill that covers a wide range of agriculture-related programs. Because this legislation deals with everything from farm subsidies to SNAP benefits, it can generate opposition on both sides of the aisle.

The 2018 farm bill expired on Sept. 30. The speaker wants to get the new bill passed in the House by December.

Get a Jump on 2025 Appropriations

Continuing resolutions and omnibus spending bills have been routinely used in recent years because Congress hasn’t been able to agree on the 12 required appropriations bills by Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year.

Mr. Johnson said he wants to change that by adhering to the statutory milestones in the appropriations process.

That means passing a budget resolution by the end of April, passing 12 appropriations bills plus the NDAA and Water Resources Development Act by the end of July, and completing negotiations on that legislation with the Senate and White House by Sept. 30, 2024.

That entails a great deal of work, and the new speaker said there will be no six-week summer break if all bills aren’t passed by the end of July.

Fiscal hawks have been advocating that, but it represents a big change from business as usual in the House.

“This is an ambitious schedule,” Mr. Johnson told colleagues, but he said it was achievable.

Republican members expressed strong support for their new speaker’s ability to get things done.

“He’s going to deliver wins for the American people,” Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-Mont.) said. “We’ve had members who have been here for 15 years saying they’ve never seen our conference as united as it is today.”

Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) said, “I firmly believe that with House Republicans now united and ready to get back to work, as our new speaker said, our best days lie ahead.”

NTD reporter Melina Wisecup contributed to this report.