WASHINGTON — Speaker Mike Johnson said the House will vote Wednesday on a six-month stopgap funding bill linked to legislation requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote — the same package he abruptly pulled off the floor last week amid growing GOP opposition.
Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, spent the weekend calling members and trying to flip GOP defections to the yes column. But given Republicans’ narrow 220-211 majority, and some members’ blanket opposition to short-term bills known as continuing resolutions, or CRs, it’s highly unlikely Johnson can push the package through the House.
The federal government is set to shut down at 12:01 a.m. on Oct. 1 unless Democrats and Republicans can agree on a funding bill. Johnson’s plan calls for a half-year CR tied to the Donald Trump-backed SAVE Act, though the package would be dead on arrival in the Democratic-led Senate and faces a veto threat from President Joe Biden.
“Congress has an immediate obligation to do two things: responsibly fund the federal government, and ensure the security of our elections. Because we owe this to our constituents, we will move forward on Wednesday with a vote on the 6-month CR with the SAVE Act attached,” Johnson said in a statement Tuesday.
“I urge all of my colleagues to do what the overwhelming majority of the people of this county rightfully demand and deserve — prevent non-American citizens from voting in American elections,” he said.
As he opened the House floor, Johnson told reporters he’ll be having more conversations with GOP holdouts Tuesday and Wednesday before the vote but made no promises the package would pass.
“We’ll see what happens. I really hope we can do it,” Johnson said, vowing to stick with his strategy. “I’m not having any alternative conversations. That’s the play, it’s an important one, and I’m going to work around the clock to get it passed.”
The White House, congressional Democrats and some Republicans are pushing for an even shorter-term bill that keeps the government open past the election, into December. That would buy bipartisan negotiators more time to strike a deal on fiscal year 2025 funding.
In a floor speech Monday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., lambasted Johnson and his party for trying to pass a funding measure that has no chance in the upper chamber.
“Mr. Speaker Johnson, you know as well as everyone else that your plan is a no-go as currently written. A six-month CR with poison pills is not going to fly in a narrowly divided government,” Schumer said.
“If the hard right thinks that we will willingly give them leverage to ram Project 2025 down the American people’s throats early next year by agreeing to a six-month CR, they are dreaming,” he added.
