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Mike Johnson to Chuck Schumer on government funding: Your move.<\/p>\n

House Republicans are pushing a not-so-clean spending patch through September<\/u><\/a> that would add billions of dollars for deportations<\/u><\/a>, veterans\u2019 health care and the military \u2014 and cut $13 billion in funding for non-defense programs. The speaker is planning to put the stopgap, known as a continuing resolution or a CR, on the floor Tuesday, and then send members home for recess before the Senate can send back any changes.<\/p>\n

Johnson is hoping to get the CR through the House without relying on Democratic votes (House Democratic leaders reaffirmed Saturday that they\u2019re a \u201cno\u201d). President Donald Trump is publicly pushing GOP lawmakers to fall in line, but Johnson\u2019s still got a few Republican holdouts. Rep. Thomas Massie is a no. And we\u2019re keeping an eye on Reps. Tony Gonzales, who said Sunday on BLN that he\u2019ll make a \u201cgame-time decision;\u201d Brian Fitzpatrick, who told CBS he\u2019s undecided; and Cory Mills, who is also on the fence.<\/p>\n

But the spending patch can\u2019t get through the Senate without the help of at least eight Democrats, given expected opposition from GOP Sen. Rand Paul. And that\u2019s putting Schumer in a bind.<\/p>\n

The Senate minority leader and his House counterpart are both under pressure from within their party to do more to stop Trump and Elon Musk\u2019s unilateral cuts to federal programs. Hakeem Jeffries\u2019 caucus can likely oppose the spending patch en masse without prompting a shutdown, but Schumer doesn\u2019t have the same cover. Senate Democrats will have to decide whether they\u2019ll push back on Trump and force a shutdown, or stand down to keep the government running. Johnson\u2019s already trying to cast any lapse in funding as a \u201cChuck Schumer shutdown.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some Senate Democrats seemed open last week to supporting a clean CR<\/u><\/a>. But Sen. Patty Murray, the top Democrat on Senate Appropriations, slammed House Republicans\u2019 weekend proposal as a \u201cslush fund\u201d that would give Trump and Musk \u201cmore power over federal spending.\u201d She continued to call for a shorter spending patch to give appropriators time to finish the full funding bills \u2014 an outcome also favored by Murray’s GOP counterpart, Sen. Susan Collins.<\/p>\n

And swing-state Sen. Elissa Slotkin told NBC News she\u2019d \u201cwithhold\u201d her vote unless she gets \u201cassurances that whatever we pass \u2026 is going to ensure that the money is spent the way Congress intends.\u201d<\/p>\n

What else we\u2019re watching:<\/b><\/p>\n