House votes down Speaker Johnson’s funding plan as shutdown deadline approaches

(WASHINGTON) — The House on Wednesday voted down Speaker Mike Johnson’s government funding plan with 14 Republicans voting against it and two others voting present.

The measure failed by a 202-222-2 margin. Three Democrats voted for the bill.

Johnson said after the vote that he was “disappointed that it didn’t pass,” but suggested there would be a “solution” to avoid a shutdown.

“We ran the play. It was the best play; it was the right one. So now we go back to the playbook. We’ll draw up another play, and we’ll come up with a solution,” John said. “I’m already talking to colleagues about their many ideas. We have time to fix the situation, and we’ll get right to it.”

“Stay posted,” he concluded his remarks without taking questions.

Johnson’s measure would have funded the government for six months but also included the SAVE Act, a bill backed by GOP leadership and former President Donald Trump that would require individuals to provide proof of U.S. citizenship to vote. Democrats said the legislation is a non-starter, noting it is already illegal for non-citizens to cast a ballot in federal elections.

Johnson was set to try to pass the funding plan last week but pulled it from the floor because he didn’t have the votes.

Some Republicans in his caucus opposed the measure because they say it would contribute to the deficit while defense hawks say they won’t vote for it because the six-month extension would effect the Department of Defense’s readiness.

Still, he was dug in on the measure and wasn’t talking about what the next steps would be. Congress needs to pass a funding measure before Oct. 1 to avoid a shutdown.

Trump openly called for Republicans to let the government close if they don’t pass the SAVE Act. He wrote on his social media platform that if they “don’t get absolute assurances on Election Security, THEY SHOULD, IN NO WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM, GO FORWARD WITH A CONTINUING RESOLUTION ON THE BUDGET.”

Asked about Trump’s comments that Republicans should let funding lapse in such a scenario, Johnson responded “No, look, 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.”

Trump again, just before the vote on Wednesday, called for a government shutdown if “every ounce” of the SAVE Act isn’t attached to a funding measure.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, the chamber’s top Republican, said it would be “politically beyond stupid” to allow a shutdown to take place with just seven weeks until Election Day.

“I think we first have to wait and see what the House sends us. My only observation about this whole discussion is the one thing you cannot have is a government shutdown,” McConnell said. “It’d be politically beyond stupid for us to do that right before the election, because certainly we’d get the blame.”

Democrats urged Johnson to drop his funding plan and bring a clean short-term measure to the floor to keep the government open.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told reporters last week that the only path forward is a bipartisan agreement that does not include “extreme” measures, such as the SAVE Act.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Monday also urged the House to pass a clean bill.

“In order to avoid a shutdown, the worst thing our colleagues in the House can do right now is waste time on proposals that don’t have broad bipartisan support,” Schumer said.