Conservatives rebel against House Speaker Mike Johnson on first day back in Congress after six-week recess
Republican discontent could derail Rep. Mike Johnson’s plan to fund the government as he seeks to avoid a government shutdown later this month.
Congress must pass government funding bills by the end of this month, or key federal structures will close on October 1.
On Friday, Johnson publicly unveiled a funding proposal, and Democrats in both chambers are already fiercely opposed to the measure.
They oppose Johnson’s tricky tying of a conservative bill, the SAVE Act, to government funding. The SAVE Act would strengthen protections against illegal immigrants voting in U.S. elections, but Democrats say it’s unnecessary.
As leaders try to count how many members they can count on, some tell Republican Chairman Johnson they do not support him.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is counting on all of his GOP colleagues to get on board with his funding plan that includes the SAVE Act, since immigration is a key issue for the party. But one Republican told DailyMail.com ‘Hell no’ that he won’t support Johnson’s gamble
The problem will become even greater if Johnson loses the number of votes he needs to make this move.
Currently, 220 of the 435 members of the House of Representatives are Republicans, while 211 are Democrats. There are four vacancies.
Johnson can only afford to lose four votes from his Republican Party to get the bill passed.
And one of those members told DailyMail.com: ‘No, he doesn’t support the speaker’s funding plan.’
“I am voting ‘Hell No’ on the Continuing Appropriations and Other Matter Act this week,” Kentucky Republican Rep. Thomas Massie said in a statement to DailyMail.com.
“I don’t care what shiny object is attached to it, or what fake fight we start and don’t finish.”
“Congress is spending our country into oblivion, and this bill does not cut spending,” he concluded, reaffirming his opposition to the bill because it fails to address the ballooning growth of the $35 trillion U.S. national debt.
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., has spent his career fiercely opposing the increase in government spending to finance voting
But an adviser to House leadership told DailyMail.com that the team is not worried and that many undecided Republicans are attracted to the current form of the bill.
“The length of a CR and associated bills, such as the SAVE Act, may influence the extent to which Republicans who typically oppose the spending measure still vote for it,” the researchers said.
However, another senior Republican Party official in the House of Representatives told DailyMail.com that “it would only take a few” Republicans to quell this effort.
And Rep. Matt Rosendale, R-Mont., also opposes Johnson’s bill, according to this source.
The Montana Republican, who is retiring at the end of his term, posted on social media that while he supported the bill, he said it could derail funding, calling it a “message stunt” by leadership.
“I was not sent to Washington to send dishonest and unfair messages. I was sent to Washington to deliver results for Montanans. Tying the SAVE Act to a CR does not increase its chances of passage or reduce our deficit… it creates a messaging bill,” he wrote.
The aide also said that House Freedom Caucus Chairman Rep. Bob Good, R-Va., who lost his primary earlier this year to John McGuire, might be inclined to oppose the bill because “he has nothing to lose.”
A senior Republican Party aide in the House of Representatives told DailyMail.com that Rosendale and Good could likely speak out against Speaker Johnson’s proposed funding proposal
The fiery conservative leader who lost his seat by a few hundred votes often doesn’t get along with Johnson. This could be a way to stop the leader and take out the Virginian.
Good has, however, voiced his support for the bill, including on his Facebook page, where he claimed to “fully support” Johnson’s plan.
Rep. Nick LaLota (R-N.Y.) reportedly expressed frustration with Johnson’s plan during a party-wide call last week, saying that if the government is actually shut down as a result of the fight over funding, as many as 10 Republicans could lose their elections this year.
But in a statement to DailyMail.com he said he supports Johnson’s plan
“Every member of Congress, Republican or Democrat, should make it a priority to keep the government open and ensure that only American citizens can vote in our elections,” he said.
“I am prepared to support a bill that achieves both goals. Our democracy will be stronger if Senate Democrats join House Republicans to advance these two critical initiatives.”
A group of migrants from Asia sit at the U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona waiting for a Border Patrol ride to a processing center. Republicans have said non-citizen voting in the U.S. could sway the outcome
Democrats argue that there are already laws banning non-citizens from voting in US elections
Senate Democrats have already indicated that the funding bill, if it includes electoral reforms, will be dead by the time it reaches the Senate.
“As we have said every time we have had a CR, we can only get things done in a bipartisan way, and that has happened every time,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., wrote in a statement last week.
On Monday, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries also called on his caucus to vote against Johnson’s funding bill.
“The partisan and extreme resolution proposed by Republicans in the House of Representatives is unserious and unacceptable,” he wrote in a letter to “distinguished colleagues.”
“To avoid a Republican-led government shutdown that harms everyday Americans, Congress must pass a temporary, continuing resolution that allows us to complete the budget process this calendar year and is free from partisan policy changes inspired by Trump’s Project 2025.”
The Biden-Harris administration’s Office of Management and Budget also spoke out against Johnson’s plan, writing Monday that it “strongly opposes” passage of the bill.
But the SAVE Act is not extreme, Republicans argue, often pointing to the original bill that passed the House earlier this summer with five Democratic votes.
The SAVE Act would require voters to prove their identity with state IDs, passports, birth certificates or some other form of official documentation
The SAVE Act is a central part of the GOP’s message on immigration and border security. It’s also a matter of election integrity, Republicans say, a popular topic among members.
The bill would close loopholes that allow people to register to vote without proof of U.S. citizenship or photo ID. It would also require all 50 states to remove illegal immigrants from their voter rolls. It would also impose penalties of up to five years in prison for election officials who register noncitizens to vote, and require proof of citizenship for people who vote abroad.
Most ballots require proof of identity in order to register to vote, such as a driver’s license.
Not all of these IDs require citizenship. The bill would specifically require IDs such as passports or birth certificates.
But the risky move to tie the SAVE Act to the funding bills could backfire, as some, like Massie, don’t want a new CR.