Instead of a shutdown this weekend, we may see text of the first six-bill spending package. For lawmakers, its part of the effort to try and meet the new March 8 and March 22 spending deadlines.

Speaker Mike Johnson and top Appropriations Democrat Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) both told reporters Thursday that they expect text for the first tranche of spending bills to be posted this weekend, although it wouldn’t be surprising if it slipped to Monday.

Multiple appropriators said Thursday they still don’t know what policy riders may hitch a ride on the first bundle of bills — decisions hashed out at the leadership level. But DeLauro said there will not be controversial policy riders in the bills aimed for release this weekend. Their inclusion could easily doom the package.

Conservatives like Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) said they aren’t aware of any significant Republican policy victories across the first set of bills. (Johnson admitted during a closed-door conference meeting Thursday morning that House Republicans didn’t get many of the wins they wanted.) And they’re lamenting more of the status quo when it comes to negotiating the annual bills.

“Whoever’s in charge of the Senate and whoever’s in charge of the House, they put their staff in a room and they come up with something and tell you to take it or leave it,” Massie said earlier this week. “This is exactly what we said we would not do at the beginning of this Congress. This is the exact way it’s been done for the 12 years that I’ve been here and it’s wrong.”

“I remain optimistic, we’re going to get them done before the 22nd, six months into the fiscal year,” DeLauro said. On blocking GOP policy riders, DeLauro said, “We’ve done very, very well,” noting that the battle is far from over.

Refresher on what’s in this first package: Agriculture-FDA, Energy-Water, Military Construction-VA, Transportation-HUD, Interior-Environment and Commerce-Justice-Science measures.

Like the stopgap bill that passed Thursday, Johnson will need significant support from Democrats to move the six-bill package. His razor-thin GOP majority, paired with divisions within his conference — especially on spending — means he’ll move the bill under a process that requires a two-thirds vote threshold.

When asked how close appropriators are to the second six-bill package of the more challenging spending bills, she joked: “Jesus Christ, give me a break!”

The Senate approved a stopgap funding bill Thursday night for President Joe Biden’s signature, thwarting a partial government shutdown on Saturday and buying more time to finalize half a dozen spending bills that congressional leaders aim to pass next week.

Congress now officially has until March 8 to clear that initial six-bill bundle, which leaders struck a deal on earlier this week. But they’re still working on an agreement to fund the rest of the government, including the military and some of the biggest domestic programs, before a second deadline on March 22. The upper chamber cleared the measure in a 77-13 vote, following votes on four Republican amendments that were defeated on the floor.

Senate Appropriations Chair Patty Murray (D-Wash.) said on the floor Thursday night that leaders plan to release bill text of the six finalized bills “in the coming days” to give lawmakers time to review them before a vote next week. “We are genuinely close. And if bipartisan cooperation prevails, I am very confident we can, at long last — at long last — wrap up our FY24 bills,” she said. “It is full speed ahead.”

Appropriators are optimistic that this latest stopgap — the fourth enacted by Congress this fiscal year alone — will finally deliver enough time to wrap up funding negotiations after a particularly chaotic cycle largely derailed by House Republican infighting. If congressional leaders can successfully pass the six bills next week to fund the departments of Agriculture, Energy, Veterans’ Affairs and Transportation, they’ll face an even bigger test in trying to strike a compromise on the remaining six bills that fund the rest of the federal government.

“I think people are optimistic right now. This has been a slog. It has kind of worn people down a little bit,” said Rep. Steve Womack (R-Ark.), a senior appropriator. “The first six are, I mean, they’re not easy by any means, but they’re easier than what we’re going to deal with by the 22nd.”

Under the deal to fast-track passage of the stopgap, Senate leaders agreed to a vote by the end of next week on a bill sponsored by Sens. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) that would compensate people diagnosed with cancer after being exposed to nuclear waste stored as a byproduct of the top-secret program to make an atomic bomb during World War II.

Before passage, the chamber rejected three different proposals from Republican Sens. Roger Marshall of Kansas, Mike Lee of Utah and Ted Cruz of Texas that would fund federal agencies at current levels through the end of the fiscal year, triggering an estimated $73 billion in cuts to non-defense programs and forgoing billions of dollars in agreed-upon funding for the Pentagon. Marshall’s plan also included emergency aid to Israel, and Cruz’s proposal included H.R. 2, the House-passed border security bill.

The Senate’s top Republican appropriator, Maine Sen. Susan Collins, argued against the yearlong stopgaps her GOP colleagues proposed, saying that they would “lock in dangerously inadequate funding levels” for the Pentagon, while cutting other “vital” programs and resulting in budgets that are “misaligned” with current military needs.

The chamber also voted 37-53 to defeat an amendment from Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) that would prevent the Federal Reserve from buying the debt of states.

Earlier Thursday, the House passed the stopgap in a 320-99 vote. Speaker Mike Johnson secured support from a majority of his conference, despite simmering conservative discontent.

While congressional leaders plan to release text for the first tranche of bills this weekend, the second tranche of those fiscal 2024 spending measures are in various states of completion, according to Collins, the top Republican appropriator in the Senate. The funding bill for the military, for example, is in pretty good shape, Collins said. Measures that would fund the Department of Homeland Security, or the departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and Education, still have a ways to go, according to appropriators.

Republicans and Democrats are still sparring over how to split up a limited pot of money across a variety of tricky issues in the DHS budget, including salaries, detention beds, processing and asylum policies, technology and other border security efforts.

Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-Ala.), who oversees the massive Labor-HHS-Education measure, said appropriators are still working toward an agreement on the funding details of his bill. Policy riders are sure to snag endgame negotiations as lawmakers inch closer to their new deadline of March 22, he said.

The first slate of bills set to lapse at the end of next week cover funding for the EPA and the Department of Energy, as well as federal transportation, housing and science programs, plus military construction and water projects. Those measures also fund the departments of Justice, Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, Commerce and Interior, along with the FDA and urban development projects.

Hunter Biden repeatedly told House investigators behind closed doors that his father was not involved in his business deals as part of an hours-long and, at times, contentious interview.

Republicans on the House Judiciary and Oversight committees released the nearly 230-page transcript on Thursday, about 24 hours after they concluded their private deposition that is part of a sweeping impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden. Much of the GOP investigation has focused on the business deals of Joe Biden’s family members, as lawmakers have struggled to find a smoking gun linking official actions he took as president or vice president to those financial agreements.

Hunter Biden — in a theme he previewed in a defiant opening statement on Wednesday morning — told lawmakers and congressional aides that his father had no involvement in his business arrangements as he fielded questions on years-old financial deals and his own well-publicized struggle with addiction. Republicans have said they now want to have a public hearing with Hunter Biden — something neither he nor his legal team has committed to this week, after pushing for one last year before they agreed to the private deposition.

“All I know is this: My father was never involved in any of my business, ever. Never received a cent from anybody or never benefited in any way. Never took any actions on behalf in any way. And I can absolutely, 100 percent state, that is not just in my case but in every family member’s case,” Hunter Biden told lawmakers, according to the transcript.

Republicans largely used the closed-door interview to press Hunter Biden on his business deals with companies in China and Ukraine, as well as testimony from previous business associates that he would put his father on speakerphone or that Joe Biden dropped by dinners or lunches. Those same associates have testified that business was not discussed.

Hunter Biden didn’t deny that he put his father on speakerphone when at dinner with business associates, saying that he always answers when his dad calls, and quipping to investigators: “Over the course of the last 30 years when speakerphone was invented on a cell phone? I’m certain my dad has called me.”

He also confirmed that he would invite his father to stop by for lunch or dinners, and didn’t contest testimony from former business associate Rob Walker that Joe Biden had stopped by a lunch in 2017, but tried to draw a bright line between his father briefly meeting someone and having a meeting with them. Walker previously told investigators that Joe Biden wasn’t involved in their business deals and characterized his appearance at the lunch as exchanging pleasantries.

“He was not involved with any business activity. Would you call it involvement if my dad was in New York City at the same time I was in New York City and I was having lunch with some of my business associates, and I said, ‘Hey, dad, come by for lunch?’” Hunter Biden asked congressional investigators.

Hunter Biden also addressed a 2017 WhatsApp message where he claimed to be with his father. He told lawmakers that that his father was not sitting next to him, that he had sent the message to the wrong person and that the IRS agents who had handed over the message had conflated it and a separate message from a person with the same last name.

“Addiction is not an excuse, but I can tell you this: I am more embarrassed of this text message, if it actually did come from me, than any text message I’ve ever sent. The fact of the matter is, is that there’s no other text message that you have in which I say anything remotely to this. And I was out of my mind,” he said.

The hours-long interview at times turned contentious, as Republicans pressed Hunter Biden on details, including dates, of his struggle with addiction.

When Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), as part of a lengthy back-and-forth over addiction, asked him if he was on drugs while serving on the board of Burisma, Biden shot back: “Mr. Gaetz, look me in the eye. You really think that’s appropriate to ask me?”

The House passed a stopgap bill on Thursday afternoon that kicks Congress’ two government shutdown deadlines further into March, as top lawmakers work to pass final versions of half of the dozen annual funding measures next week.

Now the spending patch awaits action in the Senate, where leaders are hoping to lock in unanimous agreement to fast-track final passage as early as Thursday evening. Senate approval will head off a partial government shutdown that would begin after midnight Saturday if Congress doesn’t act, pegging the next funding deadlines as March 8 and March 22.

There are still potential hurdles, to that end. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) is asking for a vote on an amendment that would prevent the Federal Reserve from buying the debt of states, and more last-minute demands could crop up. Leaders in the upper chamber will need agreement from all 100 senators in order to pass a stopgap before the shutdown deadline.

In the House, the final passage tally was 320-99, with the support of 207 Democrats and 113 Republicans. House leaders needed to clear a two-thirds vote threshold to advance the continuing resolution, since Speaker Mike Johnson brought it up under a process meant to circumvent conservative hardliners who have blocked bills that are brought up under a simple majority threshold as a form of protest against leadership.

The fact that Johnson has had to rely on overwhelming Democratic support to pass the funding bills “becomes an opportunity for negotiations,” said Connecticut Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the House’s top Democratic appropriator. The speaker also acknowledged privately to his conference last week that the new tendency of House conservatives to block a simple majority vote has undermined Republican leverage during funding talks.

Under the stopgap, government funding would run out on March 8 for half of the dozen funding bills and on March 22 for the six others. While top lawmakers announced this week that they have struck an agreement on six measures, including four that would expire this Saturday, they have yet to divulge funding totals or policy stipulations, which could be released along with bill text over the coming days.

The new two-date funding patch still saves the most challenging bills for last, punting to late March on funding for the Pentagon, Department of Homeland Security, federal health programs and many other agencies that typically spur partisan feuding over both spending levels and policy.

House Appropriations Chair Kay Granger (R-Texas) said “it’s always good” to be on track to pass half of the dozen annual funding measures. As to how the second batch compares, she said bluntly: “Harder.”

The stopgap will be the fourth funding punt Congress has cleared since the fiscal year kicked off in October. It’s the second since Johnson told House Republicans in writing in December, “I do not intend to have the House consider any further short-term extensions,” after passing a patch in November. Going back on that commitment and striking a bipartisan spending agreement with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer last month has predictably riled House conservatives.

Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) said Thursday that continuing to clear funding patches and negotiate spending bills that don’t cut federal budgets are going to cause voters to “lose faith in a Republican Party that is no different than what they are campaigning against.”

But Roy declined to comment on whether there will be consequences for Johnson, such as a vote to oust him like the one that resulted in the termination of Kevin McCarthy’s speakership. “I’m not going to talk about that,” Roy told reporters.

Jordain Carney contributed to this report.

Former President Donald Trump is encouraging Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) to run for GOP leader — a move that would significantly shake up the race to succeed Mitch McConnell later this year.

Daines currently helms Senate Republicans’ campaign arm. Daines indicated to Trump that he appreciates Trump’s encouragement but is focused on winning back the Senate majority this fall, according to a person familiar with the conversation who was granted anonymity to speak candidly.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries wants Democrats to stick to a Senate-passed bipartisan foreign aid bill as centrists mount a long-shot bid to force action on a pared-down package.

“The only way forward is the bipartisan, comprehensive Senate-passed national security bill,” the New York Democrat said Wednesday evening. “House Republicans need to put it on the floor for an up-or-down vote. And everybody under the Capitol dome knows it will pass.”

A cross section of House centrists, including from the Blue Dog coalition and Republicans from the Problem Solvers Caucus, are teeing up a discharge petition to force a floor vote on a package pairing border policy changes and national security aid. Speaker Mike Johnson has so far refused to move on the Senate-passed bill — which includes military and humanitarian aid but no border policy — with House conservatives digging in against further Ukraine assistance.

Discharge petitions are rarely successful at picking up the necessary 218 signatures to force a bill to the House floor, though the threat of a rank-and-file revolt can sometimes spur actions from leadership. Those pushing the discharge petition insist that’s their ultimate goal: Pressuring leaders to put some foreign aid package on the floor.

Rep. Jim Costa (D-Calif.), one of the bill’s backers, said in a brief interview that the effort was the start of the process to get a foreign aid bill across the finish line.

“It’s still a work in progress,” he said. “We’ve got to try every possible effort to bring it up for a vote. What final form it takes, I think, is still obviously a question.”

And Trump-district Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-Wash.) said in a statement she was backing the discharge petition effort because it was “just common sense where I live.”

“My loyalty is to my district and the bipartisan work they sent me here to do,” she said. “This discharge petition is the only bipartisan vehicle moving in the House. People might wish something else was moving forward, but it’s not, so let’s see the world as it is.”

At the same time, there’s no guarantee the pared-down bill would get universal Democratic support either. The lack of humanitarian aid for Gaza and border policy changes, like a return of the “Remain in Mexico” policy, could be anathema to many Democrats.

Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, one of the Republicans leading the effort, told reporters he was open to adding humanitarian aid to their bill but believed they faced a vote-counting challenge: “Every change you are going to make you are going to add or lose votes.”

House Democratic leaders have also begun quietly prepping another discharge petition to force the Senate-passed bill to the House floor, though some in the party have already signaled they would oppose the Senate-passed bill over concerns about the inclusion of unconditioned military aid for Israel and a desire for more humanitarian aid.

Discharge petitions and their bucking of leadership could also be a deal-breaker for many lawmakers who would otherwise support the foreign aid. Centrist Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) said the discharge petition would be his “least favorite way to go” and said he had to talk to the speaker about Ukraine aid.

Rep. Rashida Tlaib urged Michigan voters to look at the “whole ballot” in November rather than stay home in protest of President Joe Biden’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war while declining to say if she would back the president in the general election.

“Don’t stay home,” she said when asked whether voters who cast “uncommitted” protest ballots should sit out the November elections. “One thing that I know about staying home is you’re making us more invisible. I want you to exercise your right to vote, I really mean this. But also think of the whole ballot.”

She encouraged voters to consider other pro-cease-fire candidates on the ballot or other important local issues “and not always think about that top of that ticket.”

Asked if she’d be voting for Biden in November, the member of the progressive “squad” did not respond. Tlaib did not endorse Biden in the 2020 elections, though she campaigned against Donald Trump.

Tlaib, who backed the “uncommitted” campaign, has been openly critical of the president as she presses the White House to call for a Gaza cease-fire. More than 100,000 Michigan voters opted to vote “uncommitted” in the state’s primary earlier this week, sparking jitters among some Democrats about Biden’s chances in the crucial swing state.

Tlaib had also declined to call for similar protest votes in other states, telling reporters: “We’re not going to go into the backyards of other states and tell them what to do. I think what is so beautiful about our country is every community is different. “

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin came under fire Thursday from House Republicans, who faulted the Pentagon chief for not blaming anyone for failing to notify the White House of his January hospitalization.

“Who will be held accountable for this, this embarrassment?” asked Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.), leading off a contentious House Armed Services Committee hearing with Austin.

Republicans zeroed in on the fact that Austin was in the hospital for three days before President Joe Biden and the White House learned about his status, arguing it shows his lack of influence on national security.

“Either the president is that aloof or you are irrelevant,” Banks said.

Armed Services Chair Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) added that the White House not noticing his absence “suggests Secretary Austin’s advice is not sought or heeded in the White House, even while military operations were ongoing in the Middle East.”

Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) also sharply criticized Austin for failing to inform the president of his whereabouts while the U.S. is engaged in conflicts around the world. In particular, she pointed to a Jan. 4 strike on Iranian proxies in Iraq, which occurred while Austin was still in the hospital.

“The president of the United States was not aware that you were not in the chain of command. So God forbid there was a retaliatory strike that would have caused potential delays,” Stefanik said. “Do you understand why this is unacceptable to the American people until those military families?”

Meanwhile, Rep. Michael Waltz (R-Fla.) slammed Austin for holding himself to a “different standard” than the rest of the American people. He noted that the Marine Commandant Gen. Eric Smith had a “medical incident” — a heart attack in October — and informed the relevant parties.

“My teenage daughter knows to tell her supervisor if she’s not going to work. The American people — truck drivers, bartenders — know they have to tell their boss or they get fired. But you’ve held yourself to a different standard. And that’s unacceptable,” Waltz said.

Austin, in his first appearance before lawmakers since the January incident, told them he did not instruct his staff to withhold news of his hospitalization from the White House. He repeatedly appeared to blame the communications breakdown on his staff.

“I was the patient, and so I expect that my organization would do the right thing,” Austin said.

However, he gave few new details during the hearing, focusing on changes the Pentagon has made to ensure top officials are notified when his powers are transferred to his deputy.

The secretary, who transferred power to Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks the day after he was rushed to the hospital, emphasized that there was no gap in Pentagon leadership. But he reiterated that the episode was mishandled.

“Again: We did not handle this right,” Austin told lawmakers. “And I did not handle this right.”

The panel’s top Democrat, Rep. Adam Smith of Washington, hit back at Republicans who noted that adversaries were paying attention to the events, arguing “there was nothing that makes us appear weak” about the flap.

“We were doing everything that we needed to do to meet the national security needs of this country,” Smith said. “And if members of this committee incorrectly imply otherwise, they are merely giving aid and comfort to those adversaries that they claim to care about confronting.”

Austin’s testimony is the result of congressional backlash over his failure to notify the White House of his hospitalization in January for complications from earlier surgery to treat prostate cancer.

A classified 30-day review ordered by Austin’s office and sent to Capitol Hill last week found “no ill intent” by his staff in not informing the White House, but Republicans have criticized the report for not holding anyone accountable and for being mostly classified.

Several Republicans also noted that an underling would face discipline if they had gone to the hospital without reporting it to the chain of command.

“If a private soldier or a sailor or Marine would’ve done this, or an airman, there would’ve been consequences,” said Rep. Trent Kelly (R-Miss.). “They may not have been discharged from service, but there would’ve been consequences.”

Democrats, meanwhile, used the hearing to thrash House Speaker Mike Johnson and conservative Republicans for holding up a supplemental funding package that would provide billions of dollars in aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. Johnson has so far refused to move on the Senate-passed supplemental without border security requirements, as House Republicans dig in against providing additional aid for Ukraine.

“Mr. Secretary, it is not you that is the problem. It’s not what happened in your health emergency that’s the problem,” said Rep. John Garamendi (D-Calif.). “When will this committee actually stand up for the defense of this nation? When my colleagues on the Republican side of this committee find the courage to get the job done?”

Rep. Joe Courtney (D-Conn.) also pivoted from Austin’s health to Ukraine, hitting Johnson for not putting the supplemental package up for a vote.

“We’re seeing the risk play out on the battlefield each and every day as the Ukrainians fight valiantly to defend their sovereign territory,” Courtney said. “Without our support, the Ukrainians will be outgunned in terms of artillery.”

And Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) called out “the outrage and the drama” from Republicans over Austin’s mistake, while those same lawmakers failed to take steps to protect Ukraine from Russian President Vladimir Putin and approve funding for weapons.

“Look, you made a mistake. You admitted it. You’re taking steps to address it. And you want to know what accountability is. Accountability is having to come and sit in front of people and their outrage and their drama in public about your health issues and the mistakes you’ve admitted you made when the entire world is wondering what the hell is going on with the United States of America,” Slotkin said.