Such a move would not only grant a win to the House GOP’s conservative wing, but would tee up a showdown with the Democratic-controlled Senate and White House, which both object to the voting bill.
Johnson’s office has not confirmed the funding plan, but Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) — a key member of the House Freedom Caucus who has been in discussions with leadership as he advocates for the strategy — is publicly expressing confidence about the next step.
“Mike Johnson appears ready and willing to do it, and that’s where we currently sit,” Roy said in an appearance Tuesday on the “War Room” podcast.
The Freedom Caucus took an official position in August in support of attaching the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, a bill led by Roy to require proof of citizenship to register to vote, to a continuing resolution (CR) that extends into 2025.
But it is highly unlikely that Democrats and President Biden would accept such a bill.
The Biden administration put out a statement of administration policy opposing the SAVE Act, saying that current laws to prevent noncitizens from voting work as intended and that the bill risks purging eligible voters from the voter rolls.
“If Democrats are unwilling to fund government into March … and their big hang-up is the fact that they want noncitizens to vote, let them take that to the American people. They want to shut government down over that, that should be on them,” Roy told The Hill.
The Hill’s Emily Brooks has more here.
