Johnson Determined to Hold Wednesday Vote on Stopgap Funding Bill

WASHINGTON — Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is moving forward with his plan to hold a Wednesday vote on a stopgap funding measure that at this point appears certain to fail.

Johnson pulled the very same measure — which pairs a six-month continuing resolution with a MAGA-backed bill requiring proof of citizenship to vote — from consideration on the floor last week amid widespread opposition from members of his own conference.

Despite efforts by Johnson, Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., and Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., it remains unclear whether any of the more than a dozen House Republicans who opposed the bill last week have changed their minds.

At the same time the bill is only expected to get the votes of two Democrats, Reps. Jared Golden, of Maine, and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, of Washington state.

Despite the long odds, Johnson remained bullish Tuesday morning, reiterating his view in a social media post, that “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 six-month CR with the SAVE Act attached,” he continued.

“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,” Johnson said.

The opposition to the current CR is multi-tiered. Both Democrats and many Republicans oppose the election measure, saying, among other things, that it is unnecessary because undocumented immigrants are already barred from voting by law.

Despite this, Johnson has insisted on passing the meaningless measure in an effort to appease former President Donald Trump, who has publicly stated the spending bill must include the provision.

In the meantime, a number of hardline conservatives, almost all of them members of the House Freedom Caucus, oppose the use of any kind of stopgap measure at all to keep the government open beyond the looming deadline of Oct. 1.

Moderates, meanwhile, fear that even the threat of a partial government shutdown so close to the election will upset voters, upending tight races.

In addition, there are a number of Defense hawks in the House that have concerns about what a six-month spending measure would mean for funding the Pentagon.

Last week, Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., admitted he was frankly tired of the gamesmanship.

“The best path forward for Speaker Johnson is to pass the continuing resolution and let’s fight it out in November,” Lawler said.

“Obviously, in a divided government we’re going to have a bipartisan CR; that’s the reality. And if you want to pass a CR with the Senate, obviously, it’s going to have to be negotiated between the House and the Senate,” he said.

“With so little time left before the election, let’s pass the CR and move on,” Lawler said.

But that may be exactly what Johnson is thinking as well.

With a leadership election expected shortly after the general election, it’s likely that the speaker is holding Wednesday’s vote to appease the hardliners and then give himself room to pass a more palatable short-term funding bill as soon as next week.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has said he will push a clean short-term stopgap measure in his chamber that ends this year if the House does not send a continuing resolution that Senate Democrats can accept.

On Tuesday, he upped the pressure on Johnson.

“The clock is ticking for Congress to reach an agreement to keep the government open beyond the Sept. 30 deadline. That’s 13 days away,” he said in remarks delivered on the Senate floor.

“At this point in the process, the only way we can prevent a harmful government shutdown is by both sides working together to reach a bipartisan agreement. That’s the only way,” he said.

“Speaker Johnson is reportedly going to hold a vote on his six-month CR tomorrow, but the only thing that will accomplish is make clear that he’s running into a dead end. We must have a bipartisan — a bipartisan — plan instead,” he added.

“Now, I will say this: for all its faults, I am heartened that Speaker Johnson’s plan preserves the essence of the Schumer-Johnson agreement that set topline funding levels for FY 2024,” Schumer continued. “It’s encouraging to see that Speaker Johnson, at least for now, is resisting the hard-right voices in his party and not pushing for across-the-board cuts that would be so harmful to the American people.

“I hope it’s a sign that the speaker realizes that these bipartisan funding levels must be part of any solution moving forward. But beyond that, the speaker’s CR is too unworkable,” he said.

Dan can be reached at [email protected] and @DanMcCue