Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is working full-force on his plan to avert a partial government shutdown at the end of the month, despite growing uneasiness within the House GOP.
Johnson’s plan includes extending the current fiscal year’s government funding level for six months, known as a continuing resolution (CR), and pairing it with a GOP bill to require proof of citizenship in the voter registration process.
As of Tuesday afternoon, House Republican leaders are expected to hold a vote on the measure on Wednesday — at least despite A half-dozen GOP lawmakers Voting against it is already expected.
“We’re not considering any other option or any other step. I think this is the right thing to do,” Johnson told reporters, referring to pairing the C.R. with the American Voter Eligibility Protection (SAVE) Act.
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Speaker Mike Johnson is sticking to his plan on state funding. (Getty Images)
pass this one key Trial vote The bill will be debated on Tuesday and then voted on for final passage. The bill passed by a vote of 209 to 206, with Reps. Andy Biggs, R-Arizona, and Matt Rosendale, R-Mont., voting against it; the latter is one of six Republicans publicly opposing it.
Multiple Republican lawmakers told Fox News Digital that Johnson made similar comments during a closed-door meeting that morning — the first time the House Republican Conference sat together in a room since returning from a six-week recess.
Some, such as Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., applauded his resolve.
Norman, who said he generally opposes CR, told Fox News Digital, “They’re ready to fight.” “There are some things I don’t like, but overall, it’s a good thing.”
But House Republican members, asking not to be named, said they saw no point in holding a vote on a bill that, even if it passes their House, is nearly guaranteed to fail in the Democrat-controlled Senate.
“We don’t have the votes, so there’s no solution to the problem,” one Republican lawmaker told Fox News Digital in a message.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea,” another House Republican said.
“It’s not going to become law, and Biden will never sign it,” he said, adding that it would have no impact on this year’s election. “So if anything, you could do this the day after the election, and it would be implemented for the next term in the next election, which would be the most fair thing to do.”
Representative Ralph Norman praised Johnson for sticking to his plan. (Getty Images)
“Because now we’re living through a government shutdown that’s eight weeks before a presidential election?”
Many Republican Party defectors are opposed to the CR in principle, believing it to be an unnecessary expansion of government overhang. Others expressed concerns about how a six-month extension without an increase in military funding would affect national security.
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Meanwhile, at least two other lawmakers, Reps. John Rutherford, R-Florida, and Victoria Spartz, R-Indiana, expressed skepticism but did not outright oppose it.
“I’m totally going to say ‘no,’ but I’m never going to vote for either one.” Shut down the government“It’s a huge challenge,” Rutherford told reporters, citing defense funding concerns.
Spartz said she opposes the “omnivorous spending” she sees CR representing, and she questioned whether Johnson was serious about taking a gamble with a shutdown.
“Are we really planning to climb that hill? Because we better take the American people with us and tell them what’s going to happen,” Spartz said.
And while Johnson insisted on sticking to his plan, which was also advocated by former President Trump, others in his conference indicated they were looking for next steps.
The bill will likely fail in Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s chamber. (Reuters/Mike Sager)
Rep. Don Bacon, R-Nebraska, suggested Republicans would eventually agree to a funding extension without other legislation, and that it would likely extend only through December — something that senior GOP lawmakers and Democrats have supported for months.
“There will be an agreement between the two sides, but I believe it will likely be a short-term agreement,” Bacon said.
Asked if congressional negotiators are already working on a Plan B, House Appropriations Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okla., told Fox News Digital, “You know, we always have a number of things available.”
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With a majority of just four seats and at least six legislators defecting, Johnson’s bill will almost certainly need Democratic votes to pass the House.
Five Democrats voted in favor of the SAVE Act when it passed earlier this year, but because of opposition from their leaders in the House, Senate and White House, it’s unclear whether they would support attaching the bill to a temporary spending bill.
