Where things stand with the government shutdown and how soon it could end

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Speaker Johnson hopeful Congress will resolve DHS funding battle

Fox News senior congressional correspondent Chad Pergram reports on the debate over DHS funding amid a partial government shutdown. House Speaker Mike Johnson also gives analysis on ‘Fox News Sunday.’

The partial government shutdown is in its third day as the House of Representatives prepares to take up the Senate's federal funding compromise later on Monday afternoon.

The House Rules Committee, the final gatekeeper for most legislation to get a chamber-wide vote, is meeting to consider the funding deal at 4 p.m. EST.

Meanwhile, nearly 14,000 air traffic controllers are headed to work Monday without getting paid as the Department of Transportation (DOT) gets ensnared in Washington's political gamesmanship.

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told "Fox News Sunday" that he was optimistic the shutdown could end by Tuesday — likely the earliest that the full House can consider the bill.

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Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., is hopeful the government shutdown will end by Tuesday. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

House Republicans had hoped to fast-track the spending bill via suspension of the rules, forgoing two key procedural hurdles for a vote on final passage Monday night, in exchange for raising the threshold for that passage from a simple majority to two-thirds of the chamber.

But nearly 100 House Democrats or more would be needed for such a plan to succeed, and five Republican lawmakers told Fox News Digital over the weekend that House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., made clear to Johnson that he likely would not get those votes.

"What is clear is that the Department of Homeland Security needs to be dramatically reformed," Jeffries told ABC News on Sunday, adding that the Senate bill is a "meaningful step in the right direction."

The revolt is a stunning rebuke of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and his dealmaking with the Republican White House.

Some Democrats are expected to still support the legislation, but the real test will come during a procedural hurdle called a "rule vote."

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House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries split with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. (Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Adopting a rule on the House floor allows lawmakers to debate and then vote on final passage for a given measure, with only a simple majority required.

But rule votes tend to fall along partisan lines, meaning Johnson will need nearly every House Republican to vote in lockstep.

He's expected to swear in Rep.-elect Christian Menefee, D-Texas, later on Monday, who won a special election over the weekend to succeed late Rep. Sylvester Turner, D-Texas. Menefee's ascension will mean Republicans can only afford to lose one vote to still pass legislation on partisan lines.

Meanwhile, it's not clear if conservatives will be on board with the Senate deal over its short-term spending plan for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

The Senate compromise would fully fund the departments of War, Health and Human Services, Transportation, Education and Labor through the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30, lining up with previously passed spending bills.

But DHS funding would only see current levels extended for two weeks in order to give Democrats and Republicans time to negotiate a bill that would more significantly rein in President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown.

Democrats walked away from the initial bipartisan deal to fund DHS through Sept. 30 after the second deadly shooting of a U.S. citizen in Minneapolis. Border patrol agents shot and killed nurse Alex Pretti during an anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) demonstration in the Midwest city.

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In addition to conservatives' concern that they're giving away leverage to Democrats, other Republicans like Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., are threatening to hold up the legislation unless an unrelated but popular bill on requiring proof of citizenship in the voter registration process is not included.

While lawmakers are only hoping for a brief shutdown, an extended affair could lead to active duty service members missing paychecks, federal healthcare services slowing down, and airport delays like those seen during the previous government shutdown.

The government's previous shutdown late last year was the longest in U.S. history, ending after 43 days.