Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) had vowed all week to press forward with a vote on his funding plan — which pairs a six-month continuing resolution (CR) with a bill backed by former President Trump that would require proof of citizenship to vote — even as it became clear he did not have the votes to pass it.
But just hours before a planned vote on the measure, leaders pulled it from the floor.
“The whip is going to do the hard work and build consensus. We’re going to work through the weekend on that,” Johnson told reporters.
The decision to pull the vote on the CR and Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act bill marks a 180 for Johnson, who just 24 hours earlier promised to bring the legislation to the floor despite the mounting opposition.
The move catapults House GOP leadership back to square one, now needing to craft a conservative stopgap that could pass the House and, in turn, increase the party’s leverage in negotiations with Senate Democrats.
Defense hawks worried about the impact of not increasing funding for the Pentagon. Still others saw the bill as a meaningless exercise, as it would have been dead on arrival in the Democratic-controlled Senate.
But whatever Johnson’s Plan B for the next stopgap bill, it’s is a no-go if it still includes a six-month timeframe, according to GOP defense hawks.
“I wouldn’t vote for anything that’s four months. If it goes past December 31, I’m not voting for it,” House Armed Services Committee Chair Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) told The Hill Wednesday.
At least 12 Republicans made it known they would not vote for the legislation, including Rogers, sinking the bill’s chances earlier.
Now the GOP defense hawks, who worry about the impact of not increasing funding for the Pentagon, say they want to see a shorter CR in the next iteration of Johnson’s plan.
“I’m not putting any pressure on [Johnson]. I’ve just told him that I will agree to CR . . . but I won’t explore anything that goes past December 31,” Rogers said when asked about conversations on the Speaker’s Plan B.
House Armed Services Committee Vice Chair Rob Wittman (R-Va.) said the longer the CR goes into the next year, “the more problematic it becomes” for U.S. defense.
Read the full report at TheHill.com.
