Johnson Pulls Government Funding Deal Over Republican Opposition, Risking Another Shutdown Weeks Before Election

Speaker Johnson will not put a government funding bill on the House floor after it became clear several members of his own Republican conference would be voting against it. At the urging of conservatives, he attached a separate bill that would have added a requirement that those registering to vote offer proof of American citizenship, though that failed to win over enough members. “No vote today,” Mr. Johnson told reporters just off the House floor on Wednesday. “We’re in the consensus-building business here in Congress. With small majorities, that’s what you do. That’s what I’ve been doing since I became speaker.”Mr. Johnson said the House Republicans are having “thoughtful conversations” and “family conversations” within the conference. “Sometimes it takes a little more time,” he said. “We have two obligations right now … Responsibly fund the government and make sure that our elections are free and fair and secure.”Over the course of the five-week August recess, Mr. Johnson and leaders of the House Appropriations Committee, which writes the government’s funding bills, negotiated with Senator Schumer and his team to find a fair compromise on government funding.Mr. Schumer and Senate Democrats had hoped for minimal cuts that would extend government operations until December, but Mr. Johnson ended up coming out with his own proposal that — Democrats argued — failed to make necessary investments in the Pentagon, veterans’ services, and the Social Security Administration. He also attached a bill known as the SAVE Act, which was passed with bipartisan support in the House in July. It would require that those registering to vote provide proof of citizenship. Mr. Schumer and the White House said that adding such a bill was unacceptable, though President Trump made it clear that it was a top priority for him that the legislation be included in the government funding package. “If Republicans in the House, and Senate, don’t get absolute assurances on Election Security, THEY SHOULD, IN NO WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM, GO FORWARD WITH A CONTINUING RESOLUTION ON THE BUDGET,” the former president wrote on his Truth Social platform on Tuesday. “THE DEMOCRATS ARE TRYING TO ‘STUFF’ VOTER REGISTRATIONS WITH ILLEGAL ALIENS. DON’T LET IT HAPPEN — CLOSE IT DOWN!!!”Mr. Johnson told reporters Wednesday that House Republicans would work through their differences in the coming days, but gave no hints as to whether or not he would be willing to abandon the SAVE Act in order to keep the government open. The shutdown will start on October 1 if a deal is not reached between the House and Senate. The top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro, said in a statement Wednesday that it was time for Mr. Johnson and House Republicans to come back to the negotiating table to find an agreement that would fund the government past election day.“For the good of the American people, Congress must move on from House Republicans’ partisan continuing resolution proposals and begin negotiating a funding bill that can earn the support of both Democrats and Republicans in the House and the Senate,” Ms. DeLauro said. Less than one year ago, Speaker McCarthy faced a similar dilemma that his successor is now facing — pressure to keep the government open in the face of right-wing opposition. Mr. McCarthy’s decision to work with Democrats would ultimately cost him his job. The author of the SAVE Act, Congressman Chip Roy, who has been a consistent critic of Republican leadership’s spending deals with Democrats, said that now was the time to get the SAVE Act passed even if it meant funding some parts of the federal government that conservatives hate. “You know what I would say to each and every one of them who are my friends, what the hell are you going to do? Right? That’s what I want to hear,” Mr. Roy told Fox Business on September 2 of his conservative colleagues’ opposition to the funding bill-plus-SAVE Act proposal. “What are you going to do?”

Johnson Pulls Government Funding Deal Over Republican Opposition, Risking Another Shutdown Weeks Before Election

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