Speaker Johnson’s funding push on brink of collapse amid GOP opposition
CNN
Speaker Mike Johnson’s government funding push is on the brink of collapse due to Republican opposition as the Louisiana Republican attempts to navigate a shutdown fight, a narrow majority and demands from former President Donald Trump.
Speaker Mike Johnson’s government funding push is on the brink of collapse amid GOP opposition as the Louisiana Republican attempts to navigate a shutdown fight, a narrow majority and demands from former President Donald Trump. The House is expected to vote Wednesday on a six-month government funding bill that includes a controversial measure that targets noncitizen voting. But at least eight House Republicans have already come out against the funding bill, which is enough to sink it in the House along with Democratic opposition, and the bill is considered dead-on-arrival in the Democratic-controlled Senate. The Biden administration has also said the president would veto the measure. If the GOP funding plan cannot pass the House, it would be a major embarrassment for House Republicans. It will once again highlight internal divisions and send Republicans scrambling to determine next steps as a government shutdown deadline looms at the end of the month. But Johnson may need to bring the bill to the floor for it to fail in order to have political cover to then move on to a “clean” funding measure that does not include the controversial voting measure. The expectation on Capitol Hill is that scenario is the most likely path to avert a shutdown with support from Democrats. Adding to the challenges the speaker faces, Johnson is now under new pressure from Trump, who threatens to further complicate the funding fight. Trump has said that if Republicans don’t receive “absolute assurances” on election security, they should not pass a funding extension. Johnson has attempted to argue that he and Trump are on the same page, but If Trump digs in on the demand, that could set up Johnson to come under even more criticism from the right flank of his conference. The six-month funding plan from House Republicans, which cleared an initial procedural hurdle on Tuesday, would extend government funding until March 2025. The proposal includes the SAVE Act, a GOP-led bill that passed the House on a standalone basis in July and would require documentary proof of US citizenship to register to vote in federal elections, despite the fact that is already illegal for noncitizens to vote in federal elections. The push for the bill comes as Trump and his allies continue to sow doubts over election integrity in the run-up to the 2024 elections.
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