House to vote on Speaker Mike Johnson's funding plan as shutdown looms

WASHINGTON — Speaker Mike Johnson said the House will vote Wednesday on a six-month stopgap funding bill linked to legislation requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote — the same package he abruptly pulled off the floor last week amid growing GOP opposition.

Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, spent the weekend calling members and trying to flip GOP defections to the yes column. But given Republicans’ narrow 220-211 majority, and some members’ blanket opposition to short-term bills known as continuing resolutions, or CRs, it’s highly unlikely Johnson can push the package through the House.

The federal government is set to shut down at 12:01 a.m. on Oct. 1 unless Democrats and Republicans can agree on a funding bill. Johnson’s plan calls for a half-year CR tied to the Donald Trump-backed SAVE Act, though the package would be dead on arrival in the Democratic-led Senate and faces a veto threat from President Joe Biden.

“Congress has an immediate obligation to do two things: responsibly fund the federal government, and ensure the security of our elections. Because we owe this to our constituents, we will move forward on Wednesday with a vote on the 6-month CR with the SAVE Act attached,” Johnson said in a statement Tuesday.

“I urge all of my colleagues to do what the overwhelming majority of the people of this county rightfully demand and deserve — prevent non-American citizens from voting in American elections,” he said.

As he opened the House floor, Johnson told reporters he’ll be having more conversations with GOP holdouts Tuesday and Wednesday before the vote but made no promises the package would pass.

“We’ll see what happens. I really hope we can do it,” Johnson said, vowing to stick with his strategy. “I’m not having any alternative conversations. That’s the play, it’s an important one, and I’m going to work around the clock to get it passed.”

The White House, congressional Democrats and some Republicans are pushing for an even shorter-term bill that keeps the government open past the election, into December. That would buy bipartisan negotiators more time to strike a deal on fiscal year 2025 funding.

In a floor speech Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., praised Johnson for offering a CR that sticks to the fiscal 2024 funding levels that the two leaders agreed to earlier this year.

But he panned the speaker’s CR and SAVE Act strategy as “unworkable” and urged him to abandon it.

“At this point in the process, the only way we can prevent a harmful government shutdown is by both sides working together to reach a bipartisan agreement,” Schumer said.

“Speaker Johnson is reportedly going to hold a vote on his six-month CR tomorrow. But the only thing that will accomplish is make clear that he’s running into a dead end. We must have a bipartisan plan instead,” he said.