GOP opposition appears to doom Speaker Johnson’s plan to avert shutdown

At least six GOP lawmakers announced that they will vote against Johnson’s plan — which pairs a 6-month continuing resolution (CR) with a Trump-backed bill requiring proof of citizenship to vote — more than the number needed to tank the effort. If all Democrats vote no, Republicans can only afford to lose four of their members, assuming full attendance

The mounting Republican opposition is putting Johnson in a bind: caught between a restive right-flank pushing for the package that combines the lengthy CR with the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, moderates concerned about the political implications of a shutdown threat so close to the election, and GOP defense hawks sounding the alarm about how the half-year stopgap would affect Pentagon funding.

Johnson, however, is digging in his heels on the CR-plus-SAVE Act, vowing to plow ahead with the legislation despite the White House promising that President Biden would veto it and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) planning to bring up an alternative “clean” stopgap.

The chorus of concerns that emerged publicly on Monday night was headlined by Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, who said he was opposed to the spending plan because of the impact it would have at the Department of Defense.

Republican Reps. Matt Rosendale (Mont.), Thomas Massie (Ky.), Cory Mills (Fla.), Tim Burchett (Tenn.) and Jim Banks (Ind.) have also publicly said that they will not support the CR-plus-SAVE Act, mounting pressure on Johnson in the government funding negotiations.

Much of the public opposition, meanwhile, is coming from fiscal hawks who are opposed to extending government funding in general, and are reluctant to change that position for a bill that appears destined to fail.