End of government shutdown in sight as Speaker Johnson overcomes GOP revolt

The end of the current government shutdown is in sight on its fourth day after Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., managed to corral nearly all of his House GOP lawmakers to advance the legislation.

The Senate's federal funding deal survived an important hurdle late Tuesday morning, clearing a House-wide "rule vote" to allow for lawmakers to debate the measure and set up a vote on final passage by the afternoon.

The 217 to 215 vote was a touch-and-go situation for over an hour as Johnson managed a perilously slim one-seat majority with flare-ups of GOP rebellions that almost upended the proceedings and extended the shutdown.

It comes after a pair of House conservatives announced they would be backing off their threats to sink the legislation during the rule vote if the legislation was not paired with an unrelated election integrity bill called the SAVE America Act.

A rule vote is a House-wide test vote of sorts for most bills before they are considered for final passage. They normally fall along partisan lines even if the underlying bill has bipartisan support.

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