Johnson says his short-term spending bill in place of larger one is ‘gift to the American people’

House Speaker Mike Johnson said Tuesday that his continuing resolution to keep the government fully operational past Friday, rather than a large-scale spending bill, is a "gift" to Americans.

“We have broken the fever,” said Johnson, ahead of putting the measure to a vote as early as today. “We are not going to have a massive omnibus spending bill right before Christmas, that is a gift to the American people because that is no way to legislate.” 

Johnson argued that Congress is “obsessed” with deficit spending before the end of the year and it has led the U.S. to a record national debt.

He also pointed out that Congress passed a $1.7 trillion omnibus bill last December that nobody had a chance to read because it was released shortly before the vote and came in at more than 4,000 pages.  

“We cannot do that again,” he said at a news conference. 

The CR, which continues the current level of federal spending, is expected to be voted on Tuesday in the GOP-led House.

Conservative House members have vowed to vote against the CR in its current form. The conservative House Freedom Caucus released a formal statement in opposition to measure.