Speaker Mike Johnson’s short-gap funding bill stunningly failed on the House floor on Wednesday after GOP chaos.
The speaker paired short-gap funding through March 2025 with the SAVE Act – a bill that would crack down on noncitizen voting in the upcoming election by requiring proof of citizenship.
But all Democrats voted against it and GOP hardliners crossed party lines to tank the measure, called a Continuing Resolution (CR), they said isn’t fiscally conservative enough.
And the pressure is on as just 13 days remain before government funding runs out, halting funding to critical agencies.
Ex-President Donald Trump has inserted himself in the middle of the showdown, encouraging a government shutdown if the SAVE Act is not apart of the package.
Johnson said he’s talked to Trump ‘a lot’ about the bill after the former president said he would support a government shutdown.
Trump has suggested Johnson let federal funding expire if the SAVE Act is not passed
‘President Trump and I have talked a lot about this. We talked a lot about it with our colleagues who are building consensus on the plan,’ he told reporters Wednesday without revealing if there is a Plan B when the bill tanks.
Johnson is now facing pressure to work with Democrats to pass a ‘clean’ CR without the SAVE Act to fund the government through the election, angering Trump – or else risk getting the blame for a pre-election.
Trump took to Truth Social to encourage Republicans to press on with the SAVE Act.
‘If Republicans don’t get the SAVE Act, and every ounce of it, they should not agree to a Continuing Resolution in any way, shape, or form,’ he wrote.
‘Democrats are registering Illegal Voters by the TENS OF THOUSANDS, as we speak – They will be voting in the 2024 Presidential Election, and they shouldn’t be allowed to.’
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and a handful of other Republicans are vowing to vote against the measure saying that it doesn’t ‘responsibly’ fund the government.
He called Johnson’s bill an ‘undead but doomed zombie.’
Last week, Johnson decided not to put the government funding bill up for a vote because he didn’t have enough Republican support.
Many Republicans are worried that a shutdown could negatively impact their reelection odds come November.
Congress needs to pass a government funding bill before October 1 or the federal system will begin shutting down
Trump is demanding the SAVE Act, which restricts illegal immigrants from registering to vote, gets passed ahead of his contest against Vice President Kamala Harris.
Mostly all Republicans are on board with the strategy, though some have taken issue with the levels of spending contained in the legislation.
With the margin between Democrats and Republicans so narrow in the House, Johnson can only afford to lose four GOP votes to the Democrats.
Currently, 220 of the 435 members in the House of Representatives are Republicans while there are 211 Democrats. There are four vacancies.
Johnson can only afford to lose four votes from his Republican party to pass the bill.
Currently, 220 of the 435 members in the House of Representatives are Republicans while there are 211 Democrats. There are four vacancies.
Johnson can only afford to lose four votes from his Republican party to pass the bill.
