Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is eyeing a Wednesday vote on his partisan stopgap funding proposal, three GOP sources confirmed to The Hill, after he was forced to yank it from the floor amid widespread GOP opposition last week.
The move is risky: Johnson faced mounting resistance to the plan — which pairs a six-month continuing resolution with a Trump-backed bill requiring proof of citizenship to vote — last week, and it is unclear if those critics have changed their stance.
Hardline conservatives were opposed to the use of a stopgap, defense hawks were concerned about the impact the six-month measure would have at the Pentagon, and moderates were worried about the threat of a shutdown so close to the election.
Asked on Thursday about his progress in flipping his critics, Johnson said the effort had been “fruitful.” But as of Sunday, some of those members were still voicing strong opposition.
“I’m going to take the responsibility. Shut the government down or shut the border down and protect our elections,” Rep. Cory Mills (R-Fla.) said on Fox News, urging the Senate to pass election integrity and border bills rather than using government funding to advance those priorities.
If the government funding vote fails, it could serve as proof from Johnson to advocates of the plan that the House GOP needs to adopt a different strategy to address the Sept. 30 shutdown deadline.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has indicated that he will push a clean short-term stopgap that ends this year if the House does not send a continuing resolution that Senate Democrats can accept.
DEVELOPING.
