Senate Republicans are sounding the alarm that House Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-LA) government funding plan to punt a new budget into the next administration jeopardizes military readiness and threatens a government shutdown.
The uneasiness among some GOP lawmakers in the upper chamber presents the latest glaring obstacle for the Louisiana Republican’s strategy that already appears doomed in his own chamber and unable to reach the Democratic-led Senate.
The House on Wednesday will vote on a stopgap spending bill, known as a continuing resolution or CR, to extend current spending levels until late March that also includes the GOP’s SAVE Act to require proof of citizenship for voter registration. The bill narrowly cleared a procedural vote on Tuesday.
“Looks like he’s going to have a hard time doing that,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said. “[Congress will] probably wind up with some clean CR. The shorter the better because long CRs really do hurt military readiness.”
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Even those strongly advocating the inclusion of the SAVE Act see little upside to delaying the passage of a full fiscal year budget for so long, a push that is predicated on GOP hopes former President Donald Trump will retake the White House.
"I love the idea of the SAVE Act being on a CR. I'd prefer it not be six months," Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND) said. "I'm not a big fan of kicking the can that far down the road. I think it's just a license to not do anything for six months."
Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), who also noted his support for the SAVE Act, saw clear writing on the wall for the lack of support over Johnson’s plan, which seeks to appease some of his most hard-line House members.
“Obviously, it’s not going to make it through the House the way it is right now,” Tuberville said.
Government funding runs out midnight Oct. 1, at which point a shutdown will commence without some sort of spending agreement.
Senate Democrats will require at least some buy-in from Republicans, who are fractured over how long current funding levels should be extended, to overcome a filibuster. Democrats and top Republicans, including Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), believe a clean CR without the SAVE Act that runs until Congress returns after the elections in November is the best way to avoid a shutdown and hash out a full budget for fiscal 2025.
“Speaker Johnson has to understand that the image of a shutdown of the government and turmoil in Congress does not help his party in November,” said Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL). “Ask the people at the Pentagon why they tell us [CRs are] unacceptable. You can't run a Department of Defense and not waste money with continuing CRs based on last year's appropriations.”
The intraparty squabbling and jockeying by both parties for power over the purse strings is a yearly déjà vu tradition for Congress. But this go-around comes with far greater implications at the ballot box in November, prompting a warning from some in the GOP of the optics that could accompany a shutdown.
“Shutdowns always hurt Republicans,” said Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC). “If Chuck Schumer went down to the Senate floor and said, 'I'm going to shut down the government,' the public and the press would blame Republicans. It's just the same way it works. You've got to understand that."
Former President Donald Trump is among the Republicans insisting on the inclusion of the SAVE Act, which Democrats say is tantamount to fearmongering because noncitizens are already barred from voting in federal elections. Some centrist Democrats, such as the Senate’s most vulnerable member, Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT), support the legislation but only if it’s stripped from government funding.
Trump urged Republicans to shutter the government unless the SAVE Act is attached.
"If Republicans in the House, and Senate, 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," he posted on Truth Social. "THE DEMOCRATS ARE TRYING TO “STUFF” VOTER REGISTRATIONS WITH ILLEGAL ALIENS. DON’T LET IT HAPPEN - CLOSE IT DOWN!!!"
McConnell emphasized his disagreement with such a notion.
"A government shutdown is always a bad idea at any time," he told reporters.
Certain Senate Republicans have found themselves stuck on the fence over the strategy.
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Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), locked in a competitive bid to become the next Senate GOP leader, declined to stake out a position on Johnson’s spending proposal but said the SAVE Act shouldn’t be controversial.
“We know from polling that voter ID is enormously popular on a bipartisan basis. I honestly don’t see what the big deal is,” Cornyn said. “[Johnson] needs to do what he needs to do in the House, and then we'll fight that battle over here.”
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