Speaker Johnson repeals Trump voting rules on government spending bills

Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson on Sunday unveiled a new stopgap government funding proposal that makes significant changes to the original bill he introduced earlier this month, going against the wishes of former President Donald Trump and making some concessions to Democrats.

The new bill will fund the government until December 20th. SAVE MethodAn election security proposal supported by President Trump would require people to show proof of citizenship to register to vote.

In a letter to colleagues on Sunday, Johnson said his “very limited and barebones” proposal included “only those extensions that are absolutely necessary” to avoid a government shutdown.

Republican and Democratic lawmakers have eight days to reach a deal on the government budget or the government will enter a partial shutdown at 12:01 a.m. ET on Oct. 1, just over a month before November elections that will determine party control of both the White House and Congress.

“While this is not the solution any of us would like, it is the most prudent course under the current circumstances,” Johnson said in the letter. “History teaches us, and current opinion polls prove, that shutting down the government with less than 40 days until a decisive election would be an act of political malice.”

Aides to House Republicans said the new bill is expected to be introduced in the House by Wednesday.

The three-month spending plan also includes $231 million for the Secret Service, responding to growing pressure from the agency for more resources following another assassination attempt on President Trump last Sunday.

Johnson’s previous bill would have funded the government through March 2025, so funding levels were already set for the newly elected president and Congress. It also came with the SAVE Act.

Trump liked the spending resolution. He wrote: The truth of society Earlier this month, he said Republicans should not hesitate to shut down the government if they “cannot get absolute assurances about the security of our elections.”

But the six-month stopgap funding bill that came with the SAVE Act struggled to get off the ground within the House Republican caucus, as some Republicans opposed the idea of ​​providing temporary funding to the government, and some objected to the specific funding allocations that would be locked in for six months if the bill passed.

With a slim majority in the House, Johnson could only afford to lose four Republican votes to get the bill through the House.

“We fell just short of our target and need a back-up plan,” Johnson wrote to colleagues on Sunday.

Democrats have also pledged to vote against the six-month bill along with the SAVE Act, meaning the proposal will die in the Democratic-controlled Senate.

By dropping the SAVE Act and introducing the bill for three months, Johnson’s new funding proposal reflects an important compromise with Democrats.

President Joe Biden and Senate Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer Proposed They are seeking short-term proposals that don’t combine legislation to allow the newly elected governing body to start with a clean slate in January.

Schumer welcomed the changes made by the House speaker.

“I have some really good news to share,” Schumer said at a press conference on Sunday, noting a government shutdown would likely be avoided.

“With the MAGA Republican bill defeated, it’s clear that only a bipartisan budget bill can keep our government afloat,” he added. “This fiery red knot that MAGA has tied around the Republican Party has come undone.”

Johnson’s concessions to Democrats could cast a shadow over his position as speaker. His predecessor, former Republican California Rep. Kevin McCarthy, was the first House speaker to be removed from the position after reaching a deal with Democrats to avert a government shutdown in October 2023.