With a government shutdown now partially underway due to members of Congress being unable to pass a new fiscal year budget, a new move is underway to approve the budget as part of a fast-track process.
House Republican Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana said the fast-track approach, if successful, will circumvent the traditional procedural vote process requiring a two-thirds majority.
“Let’s say that I am confident we will do it by at least Tuesday,” the Speaker remarked on the NBC program Meet the Press. Johnson added that noone “wanted to put the pain on the American people” of closing the government down again after the last fall’s historic 43-day shutdown.
The Senate has thus far approved five of six funding bills designed to keep the government running for the duration of the fiscal year.
A sixth bill, which would include funding for the Department of Homeland Security, was set aside in the aftermath of the shooting of a demonstrator in Minneapolis by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers as lawmakers debate the level of funding for that agency.
The biggest hurdle for Johnson confronting the fast-track approach is that it will require the votes of at least 70 Democrats, along with the full Republican caucus, to become reality.
According to the publication Politico, Democrat House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of Maryland has said that there are currently not enough members of his caucus willing to “get the measure over the line.”
The fast-track procedure for passing legislation in Congress is rarely used and has been implemented only around thirty times between 1980 and last year.
February 2, 2026
By Garry Boulard
