In a reversal, House Speaker Mike Johnson will bring a government funding bill to a vote on Wednesday despite vocal opposition from key Republican lawmakers.
Last week, Johnson withdrew the continuing resolution (CR) after members of his party, including Reps. Thomas Massie (Ky.) and Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.), threatened to block the measure.
On Tuesday, Johnson announced his new plan to put the temporary funding bill to a vote before the Oct. 1 deadline, thereby thwarting a government shutdown if it passes.
“Congress has an immediate obligation to do two things: responsibly fund the federal government, and ensure the security of our elections,” he wrote in an X post. “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.”
“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,” Johnson added.
Massie, the House Speaker’s most vocal opponent, replied to the post within an hour.
“Your bill does NOT responsibly fund government,” he wrote. “It’s 12 bills rolled into one bill that continues the profligate spending that’s ruining our country.”
He then criticized Johnson’s inclusion of the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, or SAVE Act, which would mandate states to require proof of U.S. citizenship when registering to vote in federal elections. Noncitizens caught voting under the proposed law could face fines and up to a year in prison.
“The fact that you’ve added a 13th bill to it does not make it a serious solution,” he added. “Please quit insulting our constituents.”
In a separate post, Massie lamented, “Like an undead but doomed zombie, the CR+Save Act is back.”
“Speaker Johnson is fake fighting by attaching a bright shiny object (that he will later abandon) to a bill that continues our path of destructive spending,” he said. “I won’t be any part of this insulting charade. I’m a hell no.”
In a long post, Greene accused Johnson of running a “classic bait and switch that will enrage the base.”
“The only way to make the SAVE Act a law would be to refuse to pass a CR until the Senate agrees to pass the SAVE Act and Biden agrees to sign it into law,” she continued. “This would force a Gov shutdown on Oct 1 because Biden and Schumer both said they will shutdown the government as they are that adamant against the SAVE Act.”
“I refuse to lie to anyone that this plan will work and it’s already DOA this week,” Greene added. “Speaker Johnson needs to go to the Democrats, who he has worked with the entire time, to get the votes he needs to do what he is already planning to do.”
Last week, Axios reported three other conservative representatives — Jim Banks (Ind.), Mike Rogers (Ala.), and Beth Van Duyne (Texas) — also opposed the CR, and Rep. Tim Burchett (Tenn.) was “leaning no.”
With a slim majority, Republicans can only afford to lose four votes. However, leadership anticipated as many as 15 GOP defections if the vote were held last week, according to two sources who spoke to NBC News.
If the temporary funding bill passed, President Joe Biden has already pledged to veto the measure.
“Instead of working in a bipartisan manner to keep the Government open and provide emergency funding for disaster needs, House Republicans have chosen brinksmanship,” he said in a Sept. 9 statement, referring to the SAVE Act as an “unnecessary … unrelated cynical legislation that would do nothing to safeguard our elections, but would make it much harder for all eligible Americans to register to vote and increase the risk that eligible voters are purged from voter rolls.”
