Speaker Mike Johnson Recesses House Until January 8

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has confirmed to reporters that he has recessed the House of Representatives until January 8, in accordance with the Congressional schedule, but rejecting a request from Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) to keep the House representatives in Washington until the Senate concludes negotiations on US-Mexico border policy.

• Anthony Adragra at Politico notes that Johnson, "just now said he wouldn’t comment on whether he’d bring the House back to vote if the Senate reaches a border security deal. 'Been waiting on the Senate a long time.'"
• Congressional insiders report that a border deal, critical to unlocking President Biden's USD$110bln national security supplemental package which includes funding for Ukraine and Israel, remains elusive.
• Andrew Desiderio at Punchbowl News reports: "Sen. [John] Thune [R-SD] told me negotiators are making progress but “everything right now is still conceptual. There hasn’t been anything nailed down, agreed upon, let alone reduced to paper.”
• Jake Sherman at Punchbowl notes: "Even if the senate gets a deal on border, I’d say there’s close to a 0% chance house comes back. Johnson has said a million times that he doesn’t want big-ticket legislation jammed up against the Christmas break. And Johnson’s team has pointed out that zelensky said he doesn’t need a bill to pass this year."