House Republicans close to rejecting funding bill as shutdown looms

WASHINGTON — House Republicans on Wednesday are expected to scupper their own plan to avert a government shutdown at the end of the month, with the party divided over the length of a short-term funding bill and what, if anything, should be attached to it.

Speaker Mike Johnson's plan calls for extending funding at current spending levels for six months through March 2025 and tying it to the SAVE Act, a Donald Trump-backed law that requires voters to show proof of citizenship to register to vote.

Given the Republicans' razor-thin majority of 220 to 211 votes and the fact that a number of Republican lawmakers – a mix of fiscal conservatives and defense hawks – have announced their intention to kill the funding package, the package is in danger of failing.

Democrats want a “clean” three-month funding plan with no strings attached, and almost everyone wants to vote no. Many oppose the SAVE Act, pointing out that it is already illegal and rare for noncitizens to vote.

Wednesday's vote comes a week after Louisiana Republican Johnson withdrew the same funding package because it did not garner enough Republican support, but he has decided to push it forward again.

Some conservatives said they would never vote for interim funding bills, known as continuing resolutions or CRs, while Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) warned that six months was too long to allow military spending to stagnate.

This would be “devastating” for the Pentagon, the chairman told NBC News.

But the overwhelming majority of Republicans support Johnson's initiative and believe that holding the vote would be a clear commitment from lawmakers.

“I think it's good to get the issue out there so people know who's for it and who's not,” said Rep. Warren Davidson of Ohio after a closed session of House Republicans on Wednesday morning. “I think it's more important to call the vote so the record shows who's for what. Everyone.”

Davidson, who was pushed out of the far-right House Freedom Caucus in July, lamented that Republicans had failed to agree on a plan weeks before the election. “It's a mix of bedwetters who won't fight for anything,” he said, “and purists who won't fight for anything unless it's perfect.”

Meanwhile, just hours before the vote, Trump reiterated his message that Republicans should shut down the government if the SAVE Act does not become law.

“If Republicans can't pass the SAVE Act and every bit of it, they shouldn't agree to a continuation resolution in any way, shape or form,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, making the baseless claim that tens of thousands of illegal immigrants would vote in the upcoming election.

“In our most important election in history, or any election for that matter, only American citizens should vote! Voting must happen BEFORE the election, not AFTER the election when it's too late,” Trump added. “Be smart, Republicans, you've been stalled long enough by the Democrats. Don't let it happen again.”

At his weekly press conference, Johnson defended his strategy to reporters but declined to say whether he would listen to Trump, who has called on Republicans to shut down the government if they cannot pass the SAVE Act.

“We'll see what happens with the bill, OK? We're in the middle of the game on the field. The quarterback is calling the play. We're going to make the play,” Johnson said. “I'm very confident, I know all Republicans believe in election security. There are some people who oppose CRs. And you know what? I'm also against continuation resolutions.”

The spokesman had previously stated during an appearance on CNBC that he did not want to think about what would happen if the vote failed: “I am not going to consider Plan B.”

Unless Republicans and Democrats can agree on short-term funding, the government will shut down at 12:01 a.m. on October 1.

It will not include the speaker's plan, which is doomed to failure in the Democratic-controlled Senate and faces a veto threat from President Joe Biden.

Instead, the likely next step will be for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to put forward a clean CR that funds the government beyond the election and into December. That would buy time for bipartisan negotiators to reach a longer-term funding agreement during the lame-duck session for fiscal year 2025 — if a short-term bill can pass the House.

“Plan B was always a clean CR,” said Republican Rep. John Duarte of California about the need to pass a short-term patch at some point.

Just 48 days before the general election on November 5, Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is warning that a shutdown would have politically devastating consequences for Republicans.

“One thing that cannot be tolerated in a government shutdown would be beyond politically foolish if we did it right before the election,” McConnell said Tuesday, “because the blame would most certainly be on us.”

House Budget Committee Chairman Tom Cole (Republican of Oklahoma) said after Wednesday's meeting that he had full confidence in Johnson to find a way to avert a shutdown, noting that the speaker had reached a funding agreement with Schumer for the current fiscal year earlier this year.

“If at the end of the day he ever wanted to shut down the government, he had many opportunities to do so,” Cole said. “Since he's been speaker, he's never allowed that to happen. I don't think he ever will.”