Third time's the charm? Speaker Johnson puts forth new spending strategy as government shutdown looms.

After Speaker Mike Johnson's first two funding bills were blocked by the House, Republican leadership has put forth a plan C in a last-ditch attempt to avoid a government shutdown.

During a closed-door meeting with the Republican conference on Friday, with less than 12 hours before the midnight funding deadline, Johnson laid out two options to keep the government open.

As lawmakers go back to the drawing board, the possibility of a government shutdown is becoming increasingly plausible.

The first option Johnson proposed was the same Trump-endorsed CR the House blocked on Thursday. In contrast, his CR would exclude any provisions raising the debt limit and would keep the government funded through March 14. Like the Thursday night vote, this CR would be voted under suspension, requiring a two-thirds majority to pass the bill.

Consequently, this approach would require a significant portion of Democrats to side with Johnson's bill. Nearly all Democrats voted against the Trump-backed CR.

The second option Johnson put forth involved three separate votes on a clean CR that would extend through March 14, disaster aid, and the farm bill. With this three-pronged approach, Johnson would put the bills through the Rules Committee, thus requiring only a simple majority to pass the bills.

"This isn’t complicated," Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky said in a Thursday post on X. "Separate the bills and vote on them individually. One vote on the clean CR[,] one vote on the debt limit[,] one vote on disaster relief[,] one vote on farm bailouts[.] Radical right? Individual bills for each issue."

"Single Subject Bills," Republican Rep. Michael Cloud of Texas said in a Friday post on X. "Vote on them individually."

Johnson's first CR was introduced late Tuesday evening after several delays over the weekend. The original 1,547-page CR was met with a firestorm of frustration from Republican lawmakers, MAGA allies, and even President-elect Donald Trump himself.

In less than 24 hours, Johnson promptly scrapped the first CR following a slew of scrutiny. After another day of tireless negotiations within the Republican conference, Johnson put out a slim 116-page CR on Thursday, a far cry from the bloated bill he initially proposed.

The skinny CR was quickly voted on that same Thursday evening under suspension, requiring support from two-thirds of the House to pass. Despite earning the enthusiastic support from Trump, Johnson's CR ultimately failed, with 38 Republicans and nearly all Democrats voting to tank the bill.

As lawmakers go back to the drawing board, the possibility of a government shutdown is becoming increasingly plausible.

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