Speaker Johnson criticizes Trump’s voting rules on federal funding bill

Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson on Sunday announced a new budget proposal for the interim government with significant amendments to the original bill he introduced earlier this month, which contradicted the wishes of former President Donald Trump and made other concessions to Democrats.

The new bill would fund the government until Dec. 20 and does not include any part of the SAVE Act, a Trump-backed election security proposal that would require people to show proof of citizenship to register as a voter.

In a letter to colleagues on Sunday, Johnson said the “very thin, bare bones” proposal would include “only the necessary extensions” to avoid a government shutdown.

Congressional Republicans and Democrats have eight days to reach an agreement on federal funding. If no decision is reached, the government will partially shut down on Oct. 1 at 12:01 a.m. ET, just over a month before the November elections that will determine party control of the White House and Congress.

“While this is not a solution that any of us likes, it is the smartest way forward under the current circumstances,” Johnson wrote in the letter. “As history teaches and current polls confirm, shutting down the government less than 40 days after a bad election would be a politically incorrect move.”

A new bill will hit the House floor on Wednesday, according to House Republican aides.

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

An earlier version of Johnson’s bill would have funded the government until March 2025, meaning funding levels would have been set by the newly elected president and Congress. It also came with the SAVE Act attached.

Trump preferred that iteration of the spending decision. He wrote on Truth Social earlier this month that if Republicans “don’t get absolute certainty about Election security,” they shouldn’t hesitate to shut down the government.

But the six-month stopgap bill paired with the SAVE Act has struggled to get off the ground within the House Republican caucus. Some members of the GOP were opposed to any idea of ​​funding the government temporarily. Others objected to the appropriations, which would be fixed for six months if the bill is passed.

With a slim majority in the House, Johnson could only lose four GOP votes to pass the bill in his chamber.

“Since we’ve fallen short of the goal line, another plan is needed,” Johnson wrote to his teammates in a Sunday letter.

Democrats have also vowed to vote against a six-month bill that accompanies the SAVE Act. That means the proposal would have been dead by the time it reached the Democratic Alliance Senate.

By abandoning the SAVE Act and introducing a three-month bill, Johnson’s new funding proposal shows a significant compromise with Democrats.

President Joe Biden and Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer have both proposed a short-term proposal without a pair of bills so that in January, the newly elected administration can begin with nothing written.

Schumer welcomed the changes from the speaker of the House.

“Now we have good news,” Schumer said at a Sunday press conference, noting that a government shutdown could be avoided.

“Now that the MAGA GOP bill has failed, it’s clear that only a bipartisan budget bill will keep the government open,” he added. “This fiery red knot tied by MAGA to the GOP has been untied.”

Johnson’s approval ratings for Democrats may exceed his speaker’s. His predecessor, former Republican California Rep. Kevin McCarthy, became the first speaker of the House to be removed from office after he struck a deal with Democrats to avoid a government shutdown in October 2023.