Government Funding Plan With GOP Anti-Voter Fraud Rider Dies In House

Donald Trump wants Republicans to shut down the government if they can’t pass legislation to crack down on nonexistent voter fraud.

WASHINGTON — Lawmakers rejected a ploy by House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to combine legislation to fund the government with a right-wing bill attacking the illusory threat of illegal voting.

Johnson’s gambit failed thanks to unified opposition from Democrats, plus objections from a handful of Republicans who complained the bill didn’t cut government spending enough.

The vote tally was 202 to 220, with two House members, Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) voting “present.” Fourteen Republicans broke ranks to vote with Democrats against the bill, while three Democrats voted with Republicans in favor.

The bill’s defeat did not come as a surprise — Johnson initially scheduled a vote for last week, but postponed it amid warnings from several members of his own party that they would vote against the package.

Ahead of the failed vote on Wednesday, Republicans openly talked about a plan B, and Johnson himself suggested in an extended football metaphor that he would need to call another play after this one yielded no gain.