Johnson pulls spending bill amid GOP revolt

Rafi Schwartz, The Week US
·2 min read
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House Speaker Mike Johnson walks through Congress.
Democrats opposed Johnson's inclusion of a measure requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote. | Credit: Bonnie Cash / Getty Images

What happened

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) abruptly called off a vote on a six-month stopgap spending package yesterday amid Republican opposition. The lack of votes from his own caucus and most Democrats raised the odds of a partial government shutdown at the end of the month.

Who said what

"We're in the consensus-building business here in Congress," Johnson said to reporters. "I believe we'll get there." Some House Republicans "almost religiously refuse to vote for continuing resolutions of any kind," The Washington Post said, while others were aligned with Democrats and Senate Republicans in seeking a shorter time frame for the spending package. Democrats also opposed Johnson's inclusion of an unrelated measure requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote, dooming the bill in the Senate, while Donald Trump urged Republicans to shut down the government unless the measure is included. Democrats point out it's already illegal for noncitizens to vote, The Associated Press said, but "Republicans believe there is value" in making "Democrats in competitive swing districts vote" on the provision.

Sticking with Johnson's current spending plan "would risk an embarrassing defeat just before November, with little upside," Politico said. But if the speaker had "returned from Congress' summer break and immediately moved to cut a deal with Democrats, he would have sparked even fiercer internal backlash" and doomed his chances of keeping the gavel if Republicans keep the House.

What next?

With "an election in just a few weeks," lawmakers are eager to "avoid flirting with a partial government shutdown" and "anxious to get home and campaign," the AP said, suggesting "the two sides will work out a spending deal" before Oct. 1. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) told reporters that "shutting down the government is always a bad idea, no matter what time of the year it is."