Shortly before Wednesday's failed vote on the government spending stopgap, House Speaker Mike Johnson told senior Republicans in a private meeting that he had a Plan B — but wouldn't tell them what it was.

Next steps on government funding are uncertain. Lawmakers are not close to completing work on the dozen annual appropriations bills that will fund federal agencies during the next fiscal year, so they’ll need to approve a stopgap measure to prevent a partial shutdown when that budget year begins Oct.