U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) leaves a news conference with Republican leaders at the Capitol in Washington, D.C., on September 18, 2024.
Win McNamee | Getty Images News | Getty Images
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Ky., released a new stopgap government funding proposal on Sunday that included key revisions to the original bill he proposed earlier this month, over the objections of former President Donald Trump and with some concessions to Democrats.
The new bill only funds the government through Dec. 20, and does not include any part of the SAVE Act, an election security proposal backed by President Trump that would require voters to show proof of citizenship to register to vote.
Johnson said in a letter to colleagues on Sunday that his “very limited and bare-bones” proposal would include “only those extensions that are absolutely necessary” to avoid a government shutdown.
Congressional Republicans and Democrats have eight days to reach an agreement on government funding. If they don’t, the government will go into a partial shutdown at 12:01 a.m. ET on Oct. 1, just over a month before the November elections that could determine which party will control the White House and Congress.
“This is not the solution that any of us would prefer, but it is the most prudent course under the current circumstances,” Johnson wrote in the letter. “As history has taught us and the current polls confirm, shutting down the government less than 40 days before a fateful election is political malfeasance.”
The new bill is likely to be before the full House floor by Wednesday, according to House Republican aides.
The three-month spending plan also includes a $231 million investment in the Secret Service, a move that comes as pressure grows for more resources from the agency following another assassination attempt on President Trump on Sunday.
Johnson’s previous bill would have funded the government through March 2025, meaning funding levels were already set for a newly elected president and Congress. The SAVE Act was also attached.
Trump favored a repeat of the spending resolution. He wrote in Truth Social earlier this month that Republicans should not hesitate to shut down the government “unless they get absolute guarantees on election security.”
But the six-month stopgap funding bill that would go along with the SAVE Act has had a hard time getting off the ground with House Republicans. Some GOP lawmakers have resisted the idea of temporarily funding the government. Others have taken issue with the specific allocation of funds that would be fixed for six months if the bill passes.
With a slim majority in the House, Johnson could afford to lose just four Republican votes to pass legislation in his chamber.
“We came up a little short of the goal line and now we need a fallback plan,” Johnson wrote to teammates on Sunday.
Democrats also pledged to vote against the six-month bill along with the SAVE Act, meaning the proposal would have died on arrival in the Democratic-controlled Senate.
By repealing the SAVE Act and introducing a three-month bill, Johnson’s new funding proposal reflects a major compromise with Democrats.
President Joe Biden and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer have both advocated for a short-term proposal without attached legislation, which would allow the newly elected governing body to start with a clean slate come January.
Schumer welcomed the change in House leadership.
“We now have some really good news,” Schumer said at a news conference Sunday, noting that a government shutdown may be averted.
“Now that the MAGA GOP bill has failed, it’s clear that only a bipartisan budget bill can keep the government open,” he added. “This fiery red knot that MAGA has tied around the GOP has come undone.”
Johnson’s concessions to Democrats could have implications for his leadership. His predecessor, Republican California Rep. Kevin McCarthy, was the first to step down as House speaker after striking a deal with Democrats to avoid a government shutdown in October 2023.
