US speaker says House Republicans will pass rule to end partial government shutdown

​​​​​​​WASHINGTON

US House Speaker Mike Johnson said Tuesday that Republicans are moving ahead with legislation to at ending the partial government shutdown, expressing confidence that his party will unite behind the effort.

"We're going to pass the rule today. It was never in doubt to me, the Republicans are going to do the responsible thing," Johnson told reporters.

His remarks came one day after the US House Rules Committee advanced legislation to end the partial shutdown.

House Republicans may bring the partial shutdown to an end Tuesday, as the chamber prepares to vote on a five-bill minibus along with a two-week continuing resolution to fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

The shutdown, which began Saturday, left large swaths of the federal government and roughly 45% of the federal workforce in uncertainty amid a sharp dispute about the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, particularly in the state of Minnesota, affecting agencies, including the Pentagon, Treasury and the State, Transportation, Homeland Security, Labor, Education, Health and Human Services, and Housing and Urban Development.

If the House passes the measure, any disruption is expected to be minimal.

There is limited interest in Washington in repeating a lengthy shutdown like the one that stretched for 43 days late last year.