The Senate is at a temporary stalemate on government funding with only hours until a shutdown deadline hits at midnight, as Republicans demand multiple amendment votes related to the border and immigration.

Several GOP senators said there are roughly 10-12 amendments that are still being discussed, leaving the House-passed government funding bill in limbo. All 100 senators must come to an agreement in order to vote on the massive spending package before the Friday-night deadline.

If Senate leadership fails to land an agreement on amendments, it’s likely a Republican would object to moving forward on Friday and kick the vote into the weekend, prompting at least a brief partial shutdown.

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) said “all 49 Republicans are ready and willing to vote now” but blamed holdups on Democrats denying two specific GOP amendment requests.

“They especially don’t want to vote on the Laken Riley amendment, which would insist on justice for the murder of Laken Riley and similarly situated illegal criminals, and they don’t want to vote on the amendment that would prohibit charter flights for illegal aliens into the country,” Cotton said.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said the situation is “still up in the air” and pointed to a number of amendment requests, including one to block the Biden administration from lifting sanctions on Iran.

Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) said several of the amendments have “an immigration flavor.” Lee added that Republicans want some of their amendments requests to be slimmed down to a majority threshold, while others would have a 60-vote threshold.

Senators are slated to begin a two-week recess after they pass the funding legislation. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has a procedural motion to tee up a vote on the bill Sunday, if senators can’t reach an agreement sooner.

Even if Democratic leadership grants amendment votes, it’s unlikely any would be adopted. Changing the bill now would virtually guarantee a brief shutdown, since the House has already left town.

Jennifer Scholtes and Burgess Everett contributed to this report.

House Appropriations Committee Chair Kay Granger plans to give up her gavel early, asking Republicans on Friday to choose a successor soon so she can step down.

In a letter to Speaker Mike Johnson on Friday, the Texas Republican asked the GOP Steering Committee and the rest of the conference to elect a new chair “as soon as possible.” Granger, who isn’t running for reelection next year, said she plans to serve out the remainder of her term in the House and serve as “chair emeritus.”

Granger’s announcement comes just hours after the House passed a massive $1.2 trillion funding package to stave off a shutdown at midnight, finally closing out funding needs on a fiscal year that started five months ago. It’s likely the last major spending deal that she will oversee as Congress barrels toward a presidential election. Reps. Robert Aderholt (R-Ala.) and Tom Cole (R-Okla.) have already signaled they will run for chair.

“Recognizing that an election year often results in final appropriations bills not getting enacted until well into the next fiscal year, it is important that I do everything in my power to ensure a seamless transition” before work on spending bills for the next fiscal year begins in earnest, she wrote.

Aderholt is the most senior Republican on the committee, after Granger. Cole is the current vice chair.

Granger announced in November that she would not run for reelection to the House this year. She is 81 years old and has represented Texas’ 12th Congressional District since 1997, when she became the first Republican woman to represent Texas in the House.

She went on to become the first Republican woman to serve in several other prominent roles, including on the Defense spending subcommittee, going on to lead the influential panel that oversees military funding.

Jennifer Scholtes contributed to this report.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) threw the GOP-led House into fresh chaos Friday by filing a motion to vacate Speaker Mike Johnson, just half a year into his speakership.

Many Republicans and Democrats alike slammed the move as counterproductive — and few are sure it would even succeed at this point. “So unfortunate, no respect for the integrity of the House,” former Speaker Nancy Pelosi told POLITICO. “But a logical consequence of what [Kevin] McCarthy had to do to get elected speaker.”

Others were blunter: “Would I support it? Are you fucking kidding me?” asked Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.), one of the most endangered House Republicans.

But what did Greene’s Friday move actually mean? Here are some answers:

What did Marjorie Taylor Greene just do?

Greene filed a motion to vacate — the same procedural move used last year to oust McCarthy that threw the GOP conference into a internecine maelstrom as they searched for a new leader.

What Greene did not do was trigger action on the motion, or start any kind of clock for the House to consider her proposal to boot Johnson from the speakership. It doesn’t guarantee action on the proposal at all.

Greene said Friday she was not looking for a repeat of the weeks of mayhem that followed the removal and will be trying to formulate a plan for electing a new leader before triggering the resolution. The House is set to go on a two-week Easter and Passover recess, which will either give Greene time to rally allies against Johnson or for opponents — including some Democrats — to come together to defeat her proposal.

Greene said Friday she believes GOP voters do not “want to see a Republican speaker that’s held in place by Democrats.”

Her charge against Johnson: He has passed multiple spending bills without the majority of Republicans in support, leaning heavily on Democratic votes.

Why is ‘privilege’ important to this resolution?

It’s wonky, but deeming something privileged is a way to go around House leadership and compel a floor vote. In practice, leaders must schedule votes on privileged items within two legislative days.

The tool has been used frequently — and prominently — this Congress. Members used it boot McCarthy, as well as to force votes to censure Democratic Reps. Jamaal Bowman (N.Y.) and Rashida Tlaib (Mich.). Members also expelled former Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) using a privileged resolution.

McCarthy agreed to set the threshold at just one member to force a vote on a motion to vacate as part of his initial bargain with hard-line conservatives to win the speakership. According to the Congressional Research Service, lawmakers raised 140 questions of the privileges of the House between 1995 and 2015 — of which, 73 percent were deemed valid.

Is the House definitely going to vote on this in two weeks?

There’s no guarantee of that. Greene had the option to speed up consideration of her proposal, but instead chose a slow path that will loom over House Republicans as they head home for recess.

Greene could have called up her resolution on the House floor Friday and forced a decision sooner. Instead, she is sitting on what amounts to a threat against Johnson’s leadership.

“I’m not saying that it won’t happen in two weeks, or it won’t happen in a month, or who knows when,” Greene said Friday.

Remember: Even during recess, there are legislative days. Pro forma sessions count as legislative days, but there’s no expectation for any action before the House returns in April.

If they do, will Johnson definitely get the ax?

In short, no. Many of the eight GOP “rebels” who tossed former Speaker Kevin McCarthy last fall indicated they weren’t on board yet with this latest effort.

Democrats are floating the idea of helping Johnson hold onto the gavel if he promises a floor vote on aid to Ukraine, as many have sought for months. “If Speaker Johnson has a plan for aid to Ukraine, I’m sure a lot of Democrats would love to hear about it,” Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) told POLITICO.

Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries didn’t commit to saving Johnson, despite allusions to the possibility previously, saying that conversation would need to happen among House Democrats. “That was an observation not a declaration,” he told reporters of previously suggesting Democrats might save Johnson

Asked by a POLITICO reporter Friday if he was worried about the motion to vacate threat, Johnson merely shook his head.

Jordain Carney contributed to this report.

Speaker Mike Johnson is about to drop to a one-vote majority, as retiring Rep. Mike Gallagher has decided he will exit the House as soon as next month, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.

The Wisconsin Republican announced earlier this year that he would not seek reelection, which came on the heels of receiving blowback for voting against impeaching Homeland Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. His allies, however, say he was long jaded by the antics of the House following the ouster of Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

Gallagher’s office did not immediately return a request for comment.

The timing couldn’t be worse for Johnson, who is now potentially facing a vote on his ouster in the coming weeks. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) filed the so-called motion to vacate on Friday, over Johnson working with Democrats to pass a massive spending bill, but it’s unclear when she’ll try to force the vote on the floor.

It also further fuels conference concerns over its trajectory headed into the November election. Fewer mainstream Republicans like Gallagher means a larger share of GOP hardliners are more empowered to take on their own party.

Since Gallagher announced his retirement, the chair of the Select Committee on China has nabbed a legacy-making moment: House passage of a bipartisan bill that would force TikTok in the U.S. to sever its ties to the Chinese government.

Gallagher has said he plans to continue working on national security issues as part of the private sector.

House Democrats say Mike Johnson has an option to control his future over a motion to vacate from Marjorie Taylor Green: putting a Ukraine aid package on the floor.

Several Democrats from across the ideological spectrum said in interviews with POLITICO they would motion to table Greene’s resolution — if it came to a vote — if Johnson put a Ukraine aid package on the House floor for a vote.

All Democrats previously voted to oust former Speaker Kevin McCarthy along with a group of Republicans last fall.

“I think Speaker Johnson should demonstrate a willingness to govern in a way that is helpful to the plight of democracy and our allies across the world,” said Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.), who said she’d vote to set aside the motion if the Senate-passed foreign aid bill came up for a vote.

“If Taylor Greene puts forth a motion to vacate because there’s a bill on the floor that we have the ability to vote on — the Senate-passed Ukraine bill — I would absolutely vote to table,” she said.

“It’s not a question of saving Mike Johnson,” seconded Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.). “I’ll make a common cause and an alliance with anybody in Congress who will try to save the Ukrainian people at this point.”

And in recent days, Johnson has indicated privately to some Democratic lawmakers he would put a Ukraine aid bill up for a vote after lawmakers came back from their Easter recess. Johnson has signaled that foreign aid would be the House’s next priority after wrapping up government funding this week.

“I had a very positive conversation with Speaker Johnson today where he assured me that the Ukraine aid the package would come to the floor,” Rep. Annie Kuster (D-N.H.) told POLITICO on Thursday. “And I feel confident with that.”

Democratic leadership indicated they would first hear out their members before deciding on a plan of action.

“It’s a joke, she is an embarrassment,” Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told reporters. “We will have a conversation about it soon.”

Anthony Adragna contributed to this report

Mike Lee is taking his battle with Senate leadership to new lengths.

The Utah Republican proposed an amendment to the spending bill that would dismantle the pay structure for some top staffers to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, according to a copy of the amendment obtained by POLITICO.

A number of top staffers for Schumer and McConnell are paid as “consultants,” and Lee’s amendment would block the use of the practice.

Lee refers to Schumer and McConnell as “The Firm” and has been railing against their work together on the Senate’s foreign aid bill, as well as its annual spending bills. He’s been calling on Republicans to block the spending bill that arrived in the Senate on Friday and took specific aim at the legislation’s potential expansion of leadership staff on Thursday.

“The 1,012-page spending bill doesn’t secure the border, but rest assured — it paves the way for Senate leadership to hire additional staff,” he posted on X.

At issue is a provision in the spending bill’s section on the legislative branch, which would expand the use of consultants on leadership staff. The Senate has paid staff through this designation for more than 20 years, with the amount of total pay gradually increasing to more than $4 million last year, according to Legistorm.

Lee’s amendment would stop that practice entirely. It’s unlikely to pass even if it gets a roll call vote, but nonetheless demonstrates the level of ire on the right toward Senate leaders.

Lee is also one of the most prominent opponents of McConnell as GOP leader, criticizing his leadership style and voting against him in the 2022 leadership elections. McConnell will step down as the Senate’s top Republican later this year, but the next GOP leader would likely benefit from the expansion of Senate consultants.

The House approved a $1.2 trillion funding package on Friday, sending the colossal measure off to the Senate with just hours to spare before federal cash expires for most of the government after midnight.

Speaker Mike Johnson leaned heavily on Democratic votes to pass the package in a 286-134 vote, his usual practice with spending legislation ever since he assumed the gavel five months ago. Just 101 Republicans supported the measure, falling short of a majority of the GOP conference. The vote was held less than 36 hours after more than 1,000 pages of bill text was released in the middle of the night, a fact that infuriated conservatives.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) has proposed a vote on ousting Speaker Mike Johnson, according to three people with direct knowledge — setting up a high-stakes vote of confidence in his leadership as conservatives lament the Louisiana Republican’s passage of a $1.2 trillion government funding deal with mostly Democratic votes.

Greene, who supported Johnson’s October election as speaker, is one of several members on his right flank who have publicly soured on his leadership in recent weeks. She had hinted earlier Friday that she was considering a maneuver to force the ouster vote. Johnson may or may not have to take it up, since it’s not yet clear whether Greene filed it as a “privileged” resolution that requires House floor time.

If Greene did not file her resolution as privileged, Johnson could let it sit. Even if she did file it with the protections of privilege, Johnson would be able to postpone any vote on it after the House takes a two-week recess.

Should there be an ultimate vote on ejecting Johnson, Greene could easily fall short, despite rising conservative angst with him. Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.), one of the eight GOP lawmakers who voted to fire former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, said Friday that he had “no idea” what Greene was doing and would not support her effort.

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), another of the eight who opposed McCarthy, also said she would vote no on firing Johnson. But Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), another frustrated conservative, declined to tip his hand and said only “we’ll see.”

If all Democrats vote for Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries as speaker during an ouster vote where the House has full attendance, Johnson could only afford to lose two Republican votes if he wants to remain in power.

Asked earlier Friday if he was concerned about Greene forcing an ouster vote, Johnson simply shook his head. His spokesperson did not immediately return a request for comment.

House rules allow for a delay in voting on Greene’s move, known as a “motion to vacate” the speaker’s chair, until after the recess that is set to begin Friday.

Nicholas Wu, Daniella Diaz and Anthony Adragna contributed.

House lawmakers intend to vote in the 11 a.m. hour Friday to pass a six-bill government funding package and avoid a shutdown. But there could be turbulence in rounding up the votes needed for passage.

Leadership is trying to pass the package, known as a minibus in Washington parlance, through suspension of the rules — an expedited process requiring two-thirds of the chamber’s support. But one centrist Republican who is voting for the bill said Thursday evening that chances the House passes the government funding bill appeared “iffy at the moment.”

In an ominous sign for House leadership, senior appropriator Robert Aderholt (R-Ala.) announced he would oppose the package over concerns about earmarks added by the Senate in the process. He said the Senate had “taken liberties” and “The Senate must respect the work of the House.”

If and when the measure escapes the House, the timing for Senate action remains unclear. Conservatives vented about the bill, but didn’t indicate in interviews they planned to hold it up — assuming they secure some amendment votes.

Jordain Carney contributed to this report.