Passing the rule, once a party loyalty exercise, has become a difficult task for Johnson since he took up the gavel in 2023. Johnson is used to facing opposition from hard-liners, having experienced six rule failures under his leadership, but a failed GOP bill on Tuesday showed leaders will have a hard time passing even partisan messaging legislation this year.

Conservatives, who frequently demand more input in funding and spending legislation, secured two amendments to the minibus during a Rules Committee meeting on Tuesday.

An amendment from Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX), who sits on the Rules Committee, called for cutting appeals court funding for the District of Columbia by 20% and eliminating the budgets of Judges James Boasberg and Deborah Boardman.

Another amendment from Rep. Eli Crane (R-AZ) would strip funding from the National Endowment for Democracy, an independent nonprofit group that supports projects worldwide that it says align with its goal of promoting democracy. Those amendments will get voted on later Thursday.

The minibus, the second since the record-setting government shutdown last year, is expected to pass with bipartisan support. But the real test will come next week, when lawmakers will take up the final minibus comprising bills for the departments of Defense, Labor-Health and Human Services, and Transportation-Housing Urban and Development.

Republican appropriators aim to attach a funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security to that minibus, but Democratic appropriators are arguing it will need to be a separate bill. The Democrats are facing pressure to install restrictions or outright defund Immigration and Customs Enforcement after an officer-involved shooting of a U.S. citizen in Minneapolis.

HOUSE DEMOCRATS INTRODUCE IMPEACHMENT ARTICLES AGAINST KRISTI NOEM

Appropriators have a funding deadline of Jan. 30 to pass all 12 funding bills for fiscal 2026. Six are already passed, with six more to push over the finish line over the next two weeks.

But the Senate is on recess all of next week, followed by a House recess the last week of January, leading up to the deadline. House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole (R-OK) has said it is possible appropriators will need to rely on another continuing resolution, and he noted that a full-year CR for Homeland Security could be an option, as well.