Sen. Ron Johnson pushes bill to end government shutdowns

A Republican senator is pushing legislation that would end government shutdowns, as President Trump and Democrats again butted heads Monday in pursuit of a last-minute deal to fund federal operations.

Sen. Ron Johnson, Wisconsin Republican, says his Eliminate Shutdowns Act would save Washington a lot of time and grief.

Under the bill, the federal government would be automatically funded at existing levels in two-week increments until lawmakers passed appropriations bills.

Mr. Johnson said it is “time to stop politicians playing games with people’s lives.”

The effort is gaining GOP support as Democratic leaders and the White House seek an agreement over Democrats’ demands for extended health care subsidies to avoid a shutdown that would start on Wednesday.

Sen. Rick Scott, Florida Republican, latched onto Mr. Johnson’s effort on Monday. He said the bill would get around Democrats’ “temper tantrums.”

“Democrats’ demands are a wasteful, liberal wish list while President Trump and Republicans are working to fund the government and work for the American people,” Mr. Scott said. “Families shouldn’t suffer because of Democrats’ dysfunction.”

Rep. Dusty Johnson, South Dakota Republican, is sponsoring a companion bill in the House.

“Government shutdowns are stupid,” he said. “The American people deserve better.”

The Washington Times reached out to Democratic congressional leaders for comment on whether their side would support the effort.

Government shutdowns are a recurring drama in the capital.

Lawmakers in both parties would like to fund the government the old-fashioned way, with committees marking up a series of bills and passing them in regular order to fund government priorities for the year.

But it doesn’t happen. Instead, leaders hash out stopgap funding measures, or continuing resolutions, at the last minute. If a stalemate persists, federal funding authority can lapse, and only essential government services remain in place.

Sen. Mike Lee, Utah Republican, said on X that Mr. Johnson’s bill would end a cycle of “extortion” in which lawmakers use the threat of a shutdown to force through “reckless spending.”

“We should absolutely pass this bill,” said Rep. Bryan Steil, Wisconsin Republican, of the House version.

The most recent shutdown occurred during Mr. Trump’s first term and lasted 35 days.

This time, the government is staring at a shutdown because Democrats say Republicans who control the House, Senate and White House haven’t cooperated enough to get their votes and overcome a filibuster in the Senate.

Mr. Johnson says enough is enough.

“Fortunately, this turmoil can be avoided permanently by passing the Eliminate Shutdowns Act,” he wrote in an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal. “Anyone voting ’no’ is voting to continue budgetary chaos and should be held accountable by the American people.”