


Speaker Mike Johnson is leaning into the demands of his right flank, planning to head off a Friday government shutdown deadline with a risky two-tiered spending idea, according to two people on a House GOP call Saturday.
The proposal tees up two different funding deadlines for different parts of the government: one on Jan. 19 and the other in early February, according to those two Republicans.
The strategy ramps up the chances of a shutdown, since Senate Democrats are almost certain to reject the idea. Even some House Republicans have been publicly skeptical of the two-deadline system, which lawmakers have referred to as a “laddered” continuing resolution.
Johnson has told members he plans to bring the plan up for a floor vote on Tuesday. House Democrats have already signaled they would reject a two-tier plan, meaning the speaker will need near-unanimous Republican support to send it to the Senate. Meanwhile, Johnson told members on the call Saturday that they would likely need some Democratic votes to pass the two-tiered plan.