Speaker Johnson plowing ahead with funding plan despite GOP opposition

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is plowing ahead with his plan to avert a government shutdown despite GOP opposition that is large enough to tank the effort, setting the stage for a potentially embarrassing vote on the House floor that will foil the Speaker’s funding strategy.

At least six Republicans, including hard-line conservatives and defense hawks, have said they will vote against Johnson’s government funding gambit, which pairs a six-month continuing resolution (CR) with a bill backed by former President Trump requiring proof of citizenship to vote. Republicans can only afford to lose four of their members if all Democrats vote “no” and there is full attendance.

The Speaker, however, is moving forward with his plan, arguing that the importance of the legislation — especially the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act — demands a vote on the floor.

“We’re going to put the SAVE Act and the CR together and we’re going to move that through the process,” Johnson told reporters Tuesday morning. “I am resolved to that. We’re not looking at any other alternative or any other step; I think it’s the right thing to do.”

Pressed on the gloomy vote count, Johnson said, “You all know how I operate: You do the right thing, and you let the chips fall where they may.”

“So, we’ll see what happens,” he added.

The Speaker relayed that message to members at the Tuesday morning conference meeting. One source in the room said Johnson was “doubling down on the CR,” while another said he was “passionately pushing” for his funding package.

Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), a supporter of the plan, said it is “good news” that Johnson is “sticking with it.”

But while one member said the detractors were addressed in the room, Norman said there was no indication that any of them had changed their position. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), who has said he plans to vote against the legislation, described the funding package as “a fairy tale,” according to a source in the room.

Those opposed to the plan include fiscal hawks who are opposed to any kind of CR to fund the government at current levels, defense hawks unhappy with the effect of a six-month CR on the military, and moderates skeptical of Johnson’s strategy.

Johnson’s funding plan faced its first test Tuesday afternoon, advancing over a procedural hurdle on a 209-206 vote. Reps. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) and Matt Rosendale (R-Mont.) joined Democrats in voting against the rule for the bill.

A final vote is expected Wednesday.

Even if it does squeak through, however, top Senate Democrats have already deemed the legislation a non-starter.

“As I have said before, the only way to get things done is in a bipartisan way. Despite Republican bluster, that is how we’ve handled every funding bill in the past, and this time should be no exception. We will not let poison pills or Republican extremism put funding for critical programs at risk,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) wrote to colleagues in a letter Sunday night.

Johnson told reporters Monday that there is not a fallback plan if the CR-pus-SAVE Act fails. But Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), chair of the House Appropriations Committee, said the Republicans “always have multiple, you know, things available” in the case of a failed play.

Those options were not discussed at Tuesday morning’s meeting, though, disappointing skeptical moderates who have been pressing Johnson to more explicitly articulate how he plans to move forward on a legislative package that would be destined for failure even if Republicans uniformly backed it. Schumer is preparing an alternative stopgap, and the White House said President Biden would veto the Republican plan if it made it to his desk.

Despite the GOP infighting, Johnson said Tuesday that he understands the risks of a government shutdown so close to an election.

“I understand the perils of a shutdown,” Johnson said. “I understand the risk, and we are going to do the right thing and we’re going to see what happens.”

Updated at 2:15 p.m.