House rejects GOP plan to fund government as deadline nears

Washington — The House rejected Speaker Mike Johnson’s plan to keep the government funded on Wednesday, with a small group of Republicans joining most Democrats to oppose the measure and sending lawmakers scrambling for a backup plan with less than two weeks until a possible government shutdown.
The legislation, which would fund the government through March 28, 2025, fell short by a vote of 202 in favor to 220 opposed. Fourteen Republicans joined all but three Democrats to oppose the bill, which also included a measure aimed at targeting the practice of illegal voting that Democrats view as a nonstarter. 
The voting portion of the legislation, known as the SAVE Act, would require proof of citizenship to register to vote in federal elections. The House passed the measure earlier this year. 
“The play that we ran tonight was the right play,” Johnson said after the vote, while expressing disappointment that the bill didn’t pass. “So now we go back to the playbook, draw up another play and we’ll come up with a solution.” 
Although it’s already illegal for noncitizens to vote in federal elections, Johnson has argued that there’s no federal mechanism to enforce it. 
Former President Donald Trump weighed in ahead of the vote on Wednesday, encouraging Republicans only to back a continuing resolution if the voting measure is attached — and suggesting that they let the government shutdown if not.
“If Republicans don’t get the SAVE Act, and every ounce of it, they should not agree to a Continuing Resolution in any way, shape, or form,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
But the measure, billed as a sweetener for House conservatives who often oppose stopgap bills to keep the government funded, wasn’t enough to get the legislation over the finish line with a razor-thin Republican majority, even after House leadership delayed the vote last week to build GOP support. 
With the failed vote, Johnson’s next move remains unclear. He has repeatedly told reporters that he remained focused on the opening play, and that he wasn’t having “alternative conversations.”
Senate leaders will likely use the failed House vote to get in the driver’s seat on government funding, pushing their own stopgap measure to keep the government funded and kickstart negotiations.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Wednesday morning that he’s hopeful that “once the speaker’s CR fails, he moves on to a strategy that will actually work — bipartisan cooperation.”
“It’s the only thing that’s kept the government open every time we have faced a funding deadline,” Schumer said. “That’s what we’re willing and happy to do. And the clock is ticking.” 
Meanwhile, Johnson began putting the blame on Senate leaders Wednesday, saying House Republicans were not the ones who “put us in this situation.” The Louisiana Republican cited the appropriations work in both chambers so far, saying Senate Democrats have brought “nothing to the table.”
“It is the Senate that has put us in this situation to have to have a CR,” Johnson said. “We are the responsible governing party here and we are doing the right thing.”
Sen. Susan Collins, a Maine Republican and the top GOP appropriator in the upper chamber, called on Schumer to bring the full-year funding bills to the floor, criticizing Democratic leadership for wasting time on the issue.
“It does not have to be this way,” Collins said, adding that if Schumer had prioritized bringing the appropriations bills to the floor, the two chambers could have sent the full-year funding bills to the president’s desk before the end of the fiscal year. Congress rarely passes all 12 appropriations bills on time, opting instead for continuing resolutions that extend funding before adopting omnibus packages late in the calendar year.
Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, the top Democratic appropriator in the Senate, acknowledged Collins’ complaints on the Senate floor, saying that she shares the “absolute urgency” about passing the full year funding bills by year’s end, while urging that a bipartisan continuing resolution is necessary to avert a shutdown in the short term.
Murray has made clear that Democrats are seeking a shorter time frame for a funding measure, opting for a three-month stopgap bill rather than six to avoid “leav[ing] countless programs, including our military, stuck in limbo for half a year.” House Republicans are generally opposed to a three-month continuing resolution that tees up a funding fight around the holidays.

Caitlin Yilek

contributed to this report.