WASHINGTON — House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has summoned the House back into session to pass a stopgap funding bill as soon as Wednesday that would end the longest government shutdown in US history, even as Democrats led by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and some GOPers are agitating against some of the bill’s provisions.

Votes could kick off by 4 p.m. Wednesday after Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva (D-Ariz.) is sworn in, bringing the number of Democrats in the House up to 214, but their leader indicated that he expected no member of his party to defect.

“We’re strongly opposed as House Democrats to this reckless Republican effort to continue to raise the high cost of living on everyday Americans, which is exactly what they’re doing by failing to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits,” Jeffries told reporters during a press conference on Capitol Hill Tuesday.

The House Democratic leader indicated that it is his expectation that his entire caucus will oppose the legislation to reopen the government, but that he will have a “family conversation” with members Wednesday afternoon.

“I will have that conversation during our caucus meeting at noon,” Jeffries said, when asked if he expects any Democrats to defect and vote with Republicans.

He added: “But our strong expectation is that Democrats will be strongly opposed.”

Republicans have a 219 majority in the chamber, affording them just two “no” votes before their own conference would tank the funding legislation.

A spokesperson for Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine) indicated that the congressman’s position hadn’t “changed” since he voted with Republicans to pass the funding bill in September before the shutdown was forced by Senate Democrats — providing the GOP some breathing room in the House.

Johnson gave House reps just 36 hours on Monday to jet, train, drive and in at least one case motorcycle back to Capitol Hill, declaring that the “long national nightmare” of the shutdown was “finally coming to an end.”

“As of Sunday, nearly half of all domestic flights and US flights were either canceled or delayed. And it’s a very serious situation,” added the House speaker. “So, I’m saying that by way of reminder, I’m stating the obvious to all my colleagues, Republicans and Democrats in the House. You need to begin right now returning to the Hill. We have to do this as quickly as possible.”

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Tuesday moved to reduce the number of flights in US airspace by 6%, pursuant to an order from Transportation Secretary meant to account for the overworked air traffic control sector monitoring passengers’ safety and pilot routes.

In a 60-40 vote Monday, the Senate passed an amended funding bill with full-year spending for federal food stamps, veterans services and the legislative branch, among other smaller items like military construction, in addition to stopgap spending for the rest of the government until Jan. 30, 2026.

House lawmakers will debate the revised bill in the GOP-controlled Rules Committee before it can proceed to the floor, providing an opportunity for other amendments.

Rep. Thomas Massie, who sits on the Rules panel, intends to strike language about a hemp ban from the funding bill after his fellow Kentucky Republican, Sen. Rand Paul, tried and failed to the same in the upper chamber.

“We are concerned that Speaker Johnson and Rules committee will refuse to allow any amendments to be made in order,” noted a Massie spokesman on Tuesday.

Paul’s amendment went down in flames in a 76-24 vote, but it’s unclear if the inclusion of the hemp ban will cause more issues in the House after it divided some Republicans in the Senate.

Jeffries said Democrats would offer amendments in the Rules Committee to extend Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies for three more years and to strike a provision in the funding bill that allows Republican senators who had their call logs seized by former special counsel Jack Smith’s team to sue the federal government. 

Jeffries in a Monday press conference said “the overwhelming majority of Senate Democrats, led by Chuck Schumer, have waged a valiant fight over the last seven weeks, defeating the partisan Republican spending bill 14 or 15 different times, week after week after week.”

President Trump crowed in a Fox News interview later that night that Schumer “thought he could break the Republicans and the Republicans broke him.”

House Democrats had rejected the funding bill on Sept. 19 in part because it lacked those Obamacare tax credits, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) prolonged the shutdown from Oct. 1 for more than 40 days before seven Democratic senators broke ranks.

They joined the GOP to pass the revised bill, which included no extension of the enhanced health insurance credits, though Democrats were able to reverse the Trump administration’s firings of federal workers during the shutdown.

All federal workers furloughed or made to work while missing paychecks will also be given backpay. Trump is expected to sign the legislation authorizing the changes shortly after it passes.

“As we said from the beginning, the people’s government cannot be held hostage to further anyone’s political agenda,” Johnson told reporters Monday. “That was never right, and shutting down the government never produces anything. It never has if you study history.”