It’s Day 4 of the partial shutdown — and the exit ramp is finally in view.
According to a Fox News report, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has corralled nearly his entire conference to push the federal funding deal forward, clearing a critical procedural hurdle and setting up a final vote as early as this afternoon.
Late Tuesday morning, the Senate’s funding agreement survived the House “rule vote” — the gatekeeper vote that opens the floor for debate and tees up the bill for final passage.
And the conservative rebellion? It blinked.
Two House conservatives who had threatened to sink the rule vote backed off after the SAVE election integrity demand wasn’t paired with the funding package — removing the biggest immediate roadblock to moving the deal.
Rule votes are often partisan pressure tests even when the underlying bill has bipartisan support — and this one is no different.
Several House Democrats are still expected to vote for the funding bill on final passage, even as Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) is firmly against it.
For Johnson, the challenge has been simple and brutal: a razor-thin one-seat majority and zero room for freelancing.
Democrats had previously walked away from a bipartisan House deal to fund the government through Sept. 30, 2026, rebelling over funding for the Department of Homeland Security amid backlash to President Trump’s handling of unrest in Minneapolis.
Now the bill is moving.
This story is developing…
The House aims to end the partial shutdown today as President Trump says a deal is near. Speaker Johnson downplays including the SAVE Act: “We don’t need to be playing games with government funding.” | @BillMelugin_ pic.twitter.com/KCD6zgvhPx
— FOX & Friends (@foxandfriends) February 3, 2026