Johnson under pressure after House fails to pass GOP funding plan and Trump pushes shutdown

The House failed on Wednesday to pass a six-month GOP government funding plan that included a controversial measure targeting noncitizen voting, an effort pushed by Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.

The defeat of the bill puts Republican divisions on full display, but it also creates an opportunity for Speaker Mike Johnson to pivot to a Plan B as a shutdown looms, though the speaker has not yet said what his next steps will be. Government funding runs out at the end of the month. The House vote was 202 to 220, with 14 Republicans voting against it, two Republicans voting present and three Democrats voting for it.

A “clean” funding extension without the voting provisions attached is widely viewed on Capitol Hill as the only viable option to prevent a shutdown. But Trump is ramping up the pressure for a shutdown if Republicans are unable to pass the voting measure, which is considered a non-starter in the Democrat-led Senate.

Johnson, fresh off the defeat on the House floor, did not specify what he will do next but said he will “draw up another play.”

“And so now we go back to the playbook, draw up another play, and we’ll come up with a solution. I’m already talking to colleagues about their many ideas. We have time to fix the situation, and we’ll get right to it. I’m disappointed,” he told reporters.

Johnson pulled a vote on the government funding legislation last week after enough House Republicans came out against the spending plan to sink it, but has been under pressure to take action on election security as Trump continues to sow doubts over election integrity in the run-up to November.

“If Republicans don’t get the SAVE Act, and every ounce of it, they should not agree to a Continuing Resolution in any way, shape, or form,” Trump said on Truth Social earlier on Wednesday ahead of the vote.

Johnson would not reveal on Wednesday ahead of the planned vote what he would do if the GOP government funding plan fails and said he has spoken to Trump “a lot” about government funding after the former president floated a government shutdown.

Trump had previously said that if Republicans don’t receive “absolute assurances” about election security, they should not pass a funding extension.

Asked by CNN’s Manu Raju if he would listen to Trump, Johnson said: “President Trump and I have talked a lot about this. We talked a lot about it with our colleagues who are building consensus on the plan.”

“We all believe that election security is of preeminent importance right now,” Johnson said.

“We do the right thing day by day, and we have a big playbook, of course, with all sorts of ideas in it. But when you’re on the field and you’re calling a play, you run the play,” he said.

The six-month funding plan from House Republicans would have extended government funding until March 2025. The proposal includes the SAVE Act, a GOP-led bill that passed the House on a standalone basis in July and would require documentary proof of US citizenship to register to vote in federal elections, despite the fact that is already illegal for noncitizens to vote in federal elections.

Many Republicans are warning that Congress must avoid a shutdown ahead of the election.

“We’re going to have a vote, see what happens, and then ultimately, obviously, if it fails, then obviously the speaker is going to have to, have to recalibrate. But bottom line is, there’s not going to be a shutdown,” Rep. Mike Lawler, a Republican from New York, told Raju. “We are 47 days away from an election. There’s not going to be a shutdown.”

Senate GOP Whip John Thune said, when asked for reaction to Trump’s post and if he is worried it will lead to a shutdown, “We’ll see how it plays out. Those are all hypotheticals. Let’s see what the House does today. But the one thing I will tell you is, I don’t think it’s anybody’s political benefit, you know, this far out from an election to have a government shutdown.”

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Tuesday of the speaker’s plan to hold a vote on the GOP funding proposal, “the only thing that will accomplish is make clear that he’s running into a dead end. We must have a bipartisan plan instead.”

Secret Service in the spotlight

In the wake of Sunday’s apparent assassination attempt at Trump’s Florida golf course, lawmakers are considering whether the Secret Service is underfunded or simply mismanaged, and many have questions about what meaningful security improvements can be made this close to the presidential election. Under the organization’s watch, two apparent assassination attempts have now occurred against the former president roughly 60 days apart.

Schumer said on Tuesday that he is open to including more money for the Secret Service in this month’s funding package, if they need it.

“Look, if the Secret Service believes they need more money, I would be very open to giving them that more money in this bill or the next bill, however quickly we can work it out and get bipartisan agreement,” Schumer said.

Separately, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise told reporters on Tuesday that they are making a few “minor” changes to a bill that would mandate that the two candidates for president – Trump and Democratic nominee Kamala Harris – receive the same level of Secret Service protection that President Joe Biden receives, and are aiming to put it on the floor this week.

“Hopefully the presidential protection bill will be very bipartisan. … We’re working to get it on the floor,” Scalise told reporters. “There’s a few little, minor changes that are being made to fix a couple of things, and then the goal is to have it on the floor this week.”