Republicans Divided Over Next Steps to End US Shutdown

Members of the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus and at least one influential Republican chairman are pushing for a long-term stopgap spending bill as part of their strategy to end the ongoing US government shutdown.

Their push runs counter to comments from House Speaker Mike Johnson and members of the powerful appropriations committee, who have said they want to negotiate individual spending bills for fiscal year that started Oct. 1. That would likely require another short-term bill to grant lawmakers enough time to finalize the comprehensive legislation.