The U.S. House of Representatives will vote on Wednesday on a government funding bill that appears doomed to fail, with less than two weeks left to prevent a partial shutdown starting Oct. 1.
Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson announced Tuesday that the chamber would proceed with the vote despite vocal opposition from members of his own conference. The announcement came a week after that opposition forced Johnson to postpone a scheduled vote on his bill, and the speaker has only faced more opposition in the days since.
Johnson’s bill combines a six-month interim funding measure, known as a continuing resolution, with the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (Save) Act, a controversial proposal that would require voters to provide proof of citizenship when registering to vote.
“Congress has an immediate obligation to do two things: fund the federal government responsibly and ensure the security of our elections,” Johnson said Tuesday. “I call on all of my colleagues to do what the overwhelming majority of the people of this country rightly demand and deserve — prevent non-Americans from participating in American elections.”
Critics of the Save Act point out that it is already illegal for noncitizens to vote, and they fear such a law would prevent legitimate voters from casting their ballots. House Democrats remain overwhelmingly opposed to the proposal, and few of them are expected to support Johnson’s bill on Wednesday.
Given Republicans’ slim majority in the House and widespread Democratic opposition to the bill, Johnson can only afford a handful of defections in his caucus on Wednesday. But some far-right Republicans have already indicated they will vote against the bill, as many of them have opposed any kind of continuation of the resolution amid calls for further budget cuts.
Far-right Republicans fear that after Wednesday’s vote failed, Johnson will turn his attention to passing a simpler continuation resolution without the accompanying Save Act, although the speaker has dismissed those concerns.
“I’m not having alternative talks,” Johnson told reporters on Tuesday. “This is the game. It’s an important one. And I’m going to work around the clock to get it done.”
Marjorie Taylor Greene, a far-right Republican congresswoman from Georgia, attacked Johnson’s strategy as “classic bait and switch that will infuriate the base.”
“Johnson is fighting a fake fight that he doesn’t really want to fight,” Greene said on X on Tuesday. “I refuse to lie to anyone that this plan will work, and it’s already doomed to fail this week. Speaker Johnson needs to turn to the Democrats he’s been working with all along to get the votes he needs to do what he’s already planning to do.”
Donald Trump, who has promoted unfounded claims of widespread non-citizen voting, has increased pressure on Johnson by insisting that the House of Representatives should not approve a government funding bill unless it is linked to “election security” measures.
“Unless Republicans in the House and Senate receive absolute assurances on election security, THEY SHOULD NOT PASS A PERMANENT BUDGET RESOLUTION,” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social last week.
But even if Johnson could get his bill passed in the House of Representatives, Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has made it clear that the proposal has no chance of passing in the upper chamber. In a speech on Tuesday, Schumer reiterated that only a “bipartisan plan” would land on Joe Biden’s desk in time to prevent a shutdown next month.
“The speaker’s (continuing resolution) is too impractical,” Schumer said. “I urge him to drop his current plan and work with the other leaders – (Senate Minority Leader Mitch) McConnell, (House Minority Leader Hakeem) Jeffries and me, and the White House – to reach a bipartisan agreement. We have no time to waste.”
At a press conference on Tuesday, McConnell warned Republicans in the House of Representatives that a shutdown so close to Election Day could jeopardize the party’s standing with voters and thus cost them seats in Congress.
“The only thing we cannot tolerate is a government shutdown,” McConnell said. “That would be politically beyond stupid of us.”
