New shutdown threat looms as Democrats oppose spending bill

House Democrats are threatening to vote against the first wave of fiscal 2019 spending bills, forcing Republicans into a familiar fight with themselves over government funding that could leave them headed for another government shutdown threat in September.

Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., is urging Democrats to vote against an upcoming “mini-bus” package that pulls together a few spending bills into one bill.

Without Democratic support, the measure could falter thanks to the usual opposition from staunch fiscal conservatives.

The House plans to vote Friday on the first bill — the Energy and Water, Legislative Branch and Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Act for fiscal year 2019. It’s the first in what House and Senate Republicans plan as a series of minibus measures that would allow Congress to avoid a yearslong habit of passing nearly all federal spending in one massive omnibus package.

Pelosi, however, told fellow Democrats to vote against the bill, even though the top-line funding for all 2019 nonmandatory spending will adhere to a bipartisan deal secured in March.