Speaker Johnson pulls Wednesday vote on government funding plan amid GOP divisions

Washington (CNN) — Speaker Mike Johnson announced on Wednesday that he is pulling a short-term GOP government funding bill from the House floor amid significant defections on his right flank.

“No vote today,” Johnson told reporters just hours ahead of the scheduled vote on the bill, which included a controversial measure that targets noncitizen voting. “We are having thoughtful conversations, family conversations within the Republican Conference and I believe we will get there.”

The decision to pull the vote once again highlights the deep internal divisions within the House GOP conference and the major challenge facing the speaker as he attempts to navigate an extremely narrow majority as well as demands from former President Donald Trump.

Johnson said in announcing that the vote would be pulled, “I want any member of Congress in either party to explain to the American people why we should not ensure that only US citizens are voting in US elections … It’s the most pressing issue right now, and we’re going to get this job done.”

The House had been slated to vote Wednesday on the six-month government funding bill that included the voting measure. But at least eight House Republicans have already come out against the funding bill, which is enough to sink it in the House along with Democratic opposition, and the bill is considered dead-on-arrival in the Democratic-controlled Senate. The Biden administration has also said the president would veto the measure.

If the GOP funding plan cannot pass the House, it would be a major embarrassment for the House GOP and would send Republicans scrambling to determine next steps as a government shutdown deadline looms at the end of the month. But Johnson might need to show that the GOP funding plan does not have the votes to pass to have political cover to then move on to a “clean” funding measure that does not include the controversial voting measure. The expectation on Capitol Hill is that scenario is the most likely path to avert a shutdown with support from Democrats.

Johnson under pressure from Trump

Adding to the challenges the speaker faces, Johnson is now under new pressure from Trump, who threatens to further complicate the funding fight. Trump has said that if Republicans don’t receive “absolute assurances” on election security, they should not pass a funding extension. Johnson has attempted to argue that he and Trump are on the same page, but If Trump digs in on the demand, that could set up Johnson to come under even more criticism from the right flank of his conference.

The six-month funding plan from House Republicans, which cleared an initial procedural hurdle on Tuesday, would extend government funding until March 2025. The proposal includes the SAVE Act, a GOP-led bill that passed the House on a standalone basis in July and would require documentary proof of US citizenship to register to vote in federal elections, despite the fact that is already illegal for noncitizens to vote in federal elections.

The push for the bill comes as Trump and his allies continue to sow doubts over election integrity in the run-up to the 2024 elections.

In a message that could make the government funding effort even more contentious for Republicans, Trump wrote on Truth Social Tuesday, “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.”

Johnson emphasized agreement with Trump on government funding in response, telling CNN’s Jake Tapper on “The Lead” Tuesday, “I think President Trump is saying exactly what I have been saying, and that is we need assurances on election security and to fund the government.”

Johnson has been trying to salvage the short-term spending plan amid GOP backlash, but wouldn’t rule out passing a “clean” bill to keep the government open when pressed by CNN’s Manu Raju earlier Tuesday.

“I am in this to win this,” the speaker said. “I’m not going to engage in conjecture and, you know, try to game out all the outcomes.”

Johnson’s insistence on forging ahead with the plan comes as frustrated members of the right flank of his conference have predicted that the SAVE Act would likely be dropped once the Senate rejects the measure, even if the funding bill managed to pass the House.

The speaker has so far has not presented a Plan B. Many House conservatives are also generally opposed to short-term funding bills, arguing instead in favor of spending cuts.

VA warns of major disruptions to veteran’s health care

The Department of Veterans Affairs is sounding the alarm to Congress in a new letter first obtained by CNN that spells out how the funding plan put forth by House Republicans could imperil the department’s ability to deliver benefits to veterans in the months ahead.

Because of increased enrollment after the passage of new legislation known as the PACT Act that expanded accessibility to health care and other benefits for veterans, the department is facing a massive shortfall that it says would be exacerbated by a six-month funding bill into March.

“The most significant challenge VA would face under a 6-month CR is in delivering the highest quality health care to veterans,” the letter reads.

The administration has asked Congress for an additional $12 billion for the funds for VA health care, but House Republicans did not include that in their version of the six-month funding bill. Without it, the VA warns that the number of patients they could see, the staff they can keep and the wait times they experience could all suffer.

The letter warns that VA may have to undertake staff reductions which could affect wait times, reduce the amount of outreach they are doing to veterans to educate and help them understand their benefits they are eligible for, or cut back on improvements to VA infrastructure and facilities.

“The impacts of a 6-month CR are widespread and affect all aspects of VA care benefits, support and infrastructure. Amid the largest expansion of Veterans’s Care and benefits in a generation, the reductions in funding resulting from a 6-month CR would greatly impact VA’s ability to serve Veterans,” the letter says.

Raising the issue of veterans’ health care could also provide Democrats a potential off-ramp to vote against the six-month funding bill, which includes includes the SAVE Act. While most Democrats are opposed, there were five who voted for the voting legislation when it was a standalone bill earlier this year.

This story and headline have been updated with additional developments.

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