House GOP doubts grow as Johnson digs in on funding fight: 'Playing with a government shutdown'
Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is plowing full steam ahead on his plan to avert a partial government shutdown at the end of the month, despite growing uneasiness within the House GOP.
Johnson’s plan involves a six-month extension of the current fiscal year’s government funding levels, known as a continuing resolution (CR), and combining it with a GOP bill to require proof of citizenship in the voter registration process.
As of Tuesday afternoon, House Republican leaders are expected to hold a vote on the measure Wednesday – despite at least half a dozen GOP lawmakers already expected to vote against it.
"We're not looking at any other alternative or any other step. I think it's the right thing to do," Johnson told reporters about pairing the CR with the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act.
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It passed a key test vote on Tuesday to allow for debate and then a vote on final passage of the measure. It passed 209 to 206 with Reps. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., and Matt Rosendale, R-Mont., in opposition; the latter is one of six Republicans publicly against it.
Multiple GOP lawmakers told Fox News Digital that Johnson made similar comments during a closed-door meeting earlier that morning – the House Republican Conference’s first time in one room since returning from their six-week recess.
Some, like Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., applauded his resolve.
"He is ready to fight," Norman, who said he normally opposes CRs, told Fox News Digital. "Certain things I don’t like, but overall, it’s a good thing."
But House Republicans granted anonymity to speak freely said they saw little point in taking a vote on a measure that, if it passed their chamber, is virtually guaranteed to be a nonstarter in the Democrat-controlled Senate.
"Doesn’t have the votes, no solution to the problem," one GOP lawmaker told Fox News Digital in a text message.
Another House Republican said, "I don’t think it’s a good idea."
"It’s not going to become law and Biden will never sign it," they said, pointing out that it would have no effect on this year’s election. "So if anything, you could do this a day after the election, and it would be applied to the following term in the next election, which would be the most reasonable thing to do."
"Because now we’re playing with a government shutdown that’s, what, eight weeks before a presidential election?"
Several of the GOP defectors are against CRs as a matter of principle, believing it’s an unnecessary extension of government bloat. Others expressed national security concerns about how a six-month extension with no increases to military funding would affect national security.
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Meanwhile, at least two more lawmakers, Reps. John Rutherford, R-Fla., and Victoria Spartz, R-Ind., expressed skepticism but did not outright oppose it.
"I’m a lean no, but I’m never going to vote to shut the government," Rutherford told reporters, citing defense funding concerns.
Spartz said she opposed the "omnibus spending" she sees CRs representing, and questioned whether Johnson was serious about gambling with a shutdown.
"Are we really planning to take that hill? Because we'd better bring the American people with us and communicate what's going to happen," Spartz said.
And while Johnson insisted on holding firm to his plan, which was also advocated for by former President Trump, others in his conference signaled they’re looking for the next step.
Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., suggested Republicans would eventually agree to a funding extension without other legislation attached, and one that would likely only extend until December – something senior GOP lawmakers and Democrats have advocated for months.
"There'll be an agreement across the aisle, but probably a short-term CR, I imagine," Bacon said.
When asked whether congressional negotiators were already working on a Plan B, House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole, R-Okla., told Fox News Digital, "We always have multiple, you know, things available."
With just a four-seat majority and at least six defections, Johnson’s bill will almost certainly need Democratic votes to pass the House.
Five Democrats voted for the SAVE Act when it passed earlier this year, but with opposition from their leaders in the House, Senate and White House, it’s not clear whether they would support pairing the bill with a stopgap spending bill.