Plan to end government shutdown survives key House hurdle before critical vote

The Senate’s compromise to end the ongoing partial government shutdown cleared a major hurdle Monday night, setting the stage for a vote in the House of Representatives on Tuesday.

The House Rules Committee, the final watchdog before most bills receive a chamber-wide vote, moved forward with the upper chamber’s agreement with the White House with little infighting among Republicans on the panel.

But the measure could face problems on the House floor during a second procedural hurdle called a “rule vote”; This requires a simple majority of MPs to initiate debate and vote on final passage. House votes normally fall along partisan lines, and Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., will need nearly all GOP lawmakers to vote at once to succeed.

The current partial shutdown, affecting roughly 78% of the federal government, is in its third day after Congress failed to send the remaining spending bills to President Donald Trump’s desk by Jan. 30.

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House lawmakers passed a bipartisan bill to end funding the government by the end of the fiscal year, Sept. 30, 2026, but Democrats collectively rebelled against the plan to protest Trump’s crackdown on immigrants in Minneapolis.

Senate Democrats withdrew from the agreement in protest of funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) after federal law enforcement officers shot and killed a second US citizen during anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) demonstrations in Minneapolis.

Trump responded by removing Customs and Border Protection (CBP), whose agents shot the second man, from the Midwestern city and replacing top officials leading the crackdown there.

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But Democrats are demanding more safeguards, such as warrants, to further restrict agents in Minneapolis.

The resulting compromise would fund areas of the government caught in political stalemate—the departments of War, Health and Human Services, Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Labor and Education—while also extending current federal spending levels for DHS for two weeks.

The purpose of this two-week period is to give lawmakers time for bipartisan negotiations on a longer-term agreement.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) speaks to the crowd as protesters gather outside the Supreme Court in Washington on January 13, 2026. (Jose Luis Magana/AP Photo)

TENSION IS BOILING IN THE PARLIAMENT OVER THE SENATE AGREEMENT TO PREVENT THE GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN.

The Senate passed the new deal on Friday, but House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (DY) differs sharply on his position with his counterpart, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (DY).

Although Schumer and Senate Democrats negotiated the plan with the Trump White House, Jeffries told Johnson not to rely on support from House Democrats to pass the bill.

It’s a striking split between the top two Democrats in Congress, and one that will leave House Republicans largely on their own for much of the process of ending the shutdown.

But Trump managed to quell another rebellion on the conservative side early Monday, easing at least one headache for House GOP leaders.

At least four Republicans in the House of Representatives signaled they may vote against their own party during a rules vote Tuesday over the exclusion of an unrelated measure requiring proof of citizenship in the voter registration process.

The president posted on Truth Social early Monday demanding “NO CHANGES” to the current agreement, effectively undermining conservatives’ push for the legislation.

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., was leading a group of conservatives who threatened to filibuster the rules vote unless the SAVE America Act was added.

But Luna told reporters Monday night that he and Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., changed their minds after receiving assurances from the White House that Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., would force a vote on the bill, called the RECOVER America Act.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (DY) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (DY) held a joint press conference at the U.S. Capitol on January 8, 2026. (Bill Clark/CQ Polling, Inc. via Getty Images)

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“As of now, thanks to our current agreement and discussions, we will both answer yes to this rule,” Luna said. “There’s this thing called the rolling filibuster that allows Senator Thune to effectively put voter ID in the Senate. We’re hearing that’s going well and he’s considering it as well… so we’re very happy about that.”

But it’s unclear whether that’s enough for other House Republicans; Some of them are upset that the new deal leads to the need for bipartisan discussions on reining in Trump’s crackdown on immigrants.

Johnson can only lose one House GOP vote on the funding deal to survive the chamber-wide rules vote.

Meanwhile, around 14,000 air traffic controllers are expected to work without pay. If the shutdown lasts long enough, members of the military may also miss paychecks, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will have limited ability to deliver public health updates to Americans.