Speaker Mike Johnson’s initial plan to avert a government shutdown has run into a wall of Republican opposition as lawmakers from an array of factions in his party balk at a six month stopgap funding measure that Democrats have already rejected.
Mr. Johnson has said he plans to bring up a spending bill this week that would extend federal funding through March 28 which includes a measure that would require proof of U.S. Citizenship to register to vote. The addition of the voting restriction bill was a nod to the right flank of his conference and an effort to force politically vulnerable Democrats to take a fraught vote.
But his $1. 6 trillion proposal was almost immediately met with an outpouring of skepticism by House Republicans on Monday evening as they returned to Washington after a lengthy summer recess.
Hard line conservatives including Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky said they would oppose the legislation because it would extend current spending levels they believe are too high.
The legislation doesn’t cut spending and the shiny object attached to it will be dropped like a hot potato before passage Mr.Massie said referring to the voting restriction. He added: I refuse to be a thespian in this failure theater.
On the other hand Republican defense hawks including Representative Mike D. Rogers of Alabama the chairman of the Armed Services Committee said they opposed the plan because extending current spending levels for such a lengthy period would amount to a cut to military spending which would otherwise be slated to increase in the coming months.
The internal divisions were the latest headache for Mr. Johnson in a seemingly interminable series of skirmishes over government funding that have dogged him since Republicans took control of the House.
Every episode has ended with the same result: passage of a bipartisan spending bill that has angered the right flank of the House Republican conference.
Mr. Johnson tried to rally Republicans around the plan during a closed door meeting in the basement of the Capitol on Tuesday.
I believe we can fund the government responsibly and I believe that we can do right by the American people and ensure the security of our elections Mr.Johnson told reporters afterward calling the struggle over the voting measure a fight worth having.
It is against the law for a noncitizen to vote in a federal election and there is scant evidence that it happens but Republicans have been pressing the proof of citizenship bill as a necessary step warning that illegal votes by migrants could sway the election.
Democrats condemn the legislation as xenophobic and warn that its enactment could make it more difficult for eligible voters to register.
