Johnson to sidestep GOP rebels on government funding, seek Dem support to avoid shutdown

House GOP leaders are poised to skirt Republican opposition to their federal funding plan as they race the clock against a partial government shutdown.

"We’ve got a lot of people that honestly think a government shutdown is a good idea, or at least don’t want to take responsibility for avoiding one," House Appropriations Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okla., said Tuesday. "It’s not good for the American people, it doesn’t work politically…and you’re sent up here to be responsible."

Normally, a bill would have to advance through the House Rules Committee and then receive a House-wide procedural vote, known as a "rule vote," before lawmakers decide on the measure itself.

However, rule votes traditionally fall along party lines, regardless of who supports the bill itself.

JOHNSON'S PLAN TO AVOID GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN GOES DOWN IN FLAMES AS REPUBLICANS REBEL

Rep. Ralph Norman, a member of the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus who sits on the Rules Committee, told Fox News Digital on Monday night that he would support the rule advancing through the panel but would reject it on the House floor.

With opposition bubbling up and just a three-seat majority, House GOP leaders likely do not have the votes to pass the rule.

Instead, multiple people told Fox News Digital they expect Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., to put the measure up for a vote under suspension of the rules – meaning it forgoes the House-wide rule vote in exchange for raising the threshold for passage from a simple majority to two-thirds of the chamber.

The bill is a short-term extension of this year’s government funding, known as a continuing resolution (CR), through Dec. 20. The goal is to give Congress more time to negotiate spending priorities for fiscal year 2025, which begins