John Thune

The House's Tuesday night passage of a stopgap spending bill places the burden on the Senate to approve similar legislation and avoid another fall government shutdown.

A mostly Republican group of House lawmakers sent the continuing resolution, which would extend current funding past the November midterm elections, to an uncertain fate across the Capitol. Senate Majority Leader John Thune has called on his colleagues to approve a stopgap, but Democrats could leverage the potential for another shutdown of the Republican-controlled government to extract concessions.

"I think it’s going to be really important that we figure out a path forward to get a bipartisan agreement to fund the government that will keep government open and ensure that government employees are getting paid," Thune told reporters earlier Tuesday. "And that is something that I intend to bring to the floor for a vote before the August break.”

Congress will recess for much of next month, leaving it only a few weeks to decide whether it will take the political gamble of shutting down the government at the expense of the other party and the potentially unpaid federal workforce. Current funding expires at the end of September, a month before voters decide on control of the Capitol.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, in an X post announcing the stopgap's success, accused Democrats of setting his party up for failure as the Senate considers the bill's passage.

"While time remains until the end of the fiscal year, Republicans are under no illusions about the Democrat Party's intentions heading into a consequential midterm election. They apparently believe a painful government shutdown would help them politically," Johnson wrote. "We hope they come to their senses before the government shuts down, but if they don't, then Democrats alone will own the chaos that results."

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer led much of his caucus last fall into forcing a record-long shutdown for healthcare policy concessions. The party was ultimately unable to achieve any significant victories, aside from the harm caused to public perception of the GOP.

"Over the last several weeks, several Republicans have gone on record saying that they understood the need to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits in order to prevent tens of millions of Americans from experiencing dramatically-increased premiums, copays and deductibles," House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries remarked last November. "What the American people who are in the middle of open enrollment right now may confront is the fact that for many folks all across this country, including in rural parts of America, they may see increases in their health insurance of $1,000 or $2,000 per month."

Polling shows most Americans blamed Republicans for the shutdown and trust Democrats more with healthcare, an issue that could come into play as the midterms near.