Lifeline for foreign aid package, speaker's job up to Democrats

The process of merging separate bills into one package after each measure has passed the House separately is known in procedural parlance as a “MIRV” rule. Normally, that’s an acronym for multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle, or a ballistic missile that carries multiple warheads.

The effect is similar on the Senate; after House passage of each bill, the rule, if adopted, provides that they all be attached to the same underlying vehicle before being transmitted to the Senate. House leaders have employed this tool at least 14 times since the mid-1990s, such as one notable attempt in 2000 to attach a small-business tax cut measure to legislation that would increase the minimum wage.

Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., who initially appeared to back Johnson’s piecemeal funding strategy on Monday night, later backtracked when it became clear the speaker was contemplating combining the pieces.

“MIRV — the process used to merge the bills — is about as ridiculous as ranked-choice voting,” Biggs wrote on X, formerly Twitter, late Monday. “The least popular option is the one that wins.”

While Republicans have been willing to put bills with larger bipartisan support on the floor under suspension of the rules, doing so requires a two-thirds majority that may not exist for this package.

It wasn’t immediately clear how Democrats would handle the situation. While it’s not typical for the minority party to help with rule votes, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, R-N.Y., did allow Democrats to support the rule to ensure that the debt limit suspension law could pass last summer.

“If they want to get it passed, we might need some help, but it’s their call,” House Appropriations Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okla., said.

Minority Whip Katherine M. Clark, D-Mass., said Democrats could help with the rule, but would make that decision after finalizing negotiations with Republicans on the bills’ contents.

“Once that is finalized, then we are going to move to the process discussions,” she said. “But it is certainly on the table as a possibility.”

A handful of Democrats said leaving their caucus meeting that they would have to see the bill text before deciding whether they would support the rule.

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