Hemmed In by the Hard Right, Johnson Again Turns to Democrats for Votes

The House speaker is trying to get a short-term spending agreement passed despite opposition from some conservative members of his own party.

Speaker Mike Johnson is preparing to steer around a bloc of conservative opposition to a bipartisan short-term agreement to fund the government by relying — yet again — on Democrats to provide the bulk of votes to pass the legislation.

Late on Monday night, Republican leaders abruptly abandoned an effort to bring the funding legislation to the House floor using routine procedural measures, in an acknowledgment of the growing opposition to the measure from hard-right lawmakers.

Instead, on Wednesday evening Mr. Johnson will put the legislation to a vote using a special procedure that requires the support of two-thirds of those voting to pass. That all but guarantees that Democrats will need to rally most of the votes to push the critical bill extending current funding until Dec. 20 across the finish line.

It is familiar territory for Mr. Johnson. The speaker has had to consistently rely on Democratic votes on major spending bills to avert shutdowns in order to compensate for Republican hard-liners who oppose any measure that does not impose significant cuts to federal spending.

But it was yet another blow for Mr. Johnson, who was forced to abandon his demand that the stopgap measure — known as a continuing resolution or “C.R.” — be paired with new proof-of-citizenship requirements on voter registration.

“Everybody heard me here last week say that I thought the best play under the circumstances was the C.R. with the SAVE Act,” Mr. Johnson said at a news conference on Tuesday, referring to legislation that required proof of citizenship. “No matter where we are in the country, everybody understands that only U.S. citizens should vote in U.S. elections. This was our opportunity to both fund the government and ensure the security of the election.”

Still, he conceded, “it would be political malpractice to shut the government down.” He noted that most lawmakers were eager to return to the campaign trail before the November elections.

Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the majority leader, said on Tuesday that “once the House acts, the Senate will move quickly to get the C.R. done.” Lawmakers have until the end of the day on Monday to get the legislation to President Biden’s desk.

The Biden administration’s Office of Management and Budget said on Tuesday that Mr. Biden would sign the legislation into law.

For nearly two years, Republican speakers have been able to steer around legislative blockades thrown up by the hard right by relying on Democratic votes. Beginning under Speaker Kevin McCarthy, hard-liners in the House G.O.P. have repeatedly shown a willingness to vote against procedural measures — known as rules — that allow legislation to come to the floor for a vote, rupturing a two-decade-old custom.

That has forced both Mr. McCarthy, and now Mr. Johnson, to rely on Democratic leaders to provide large numbers of votes to push forward critical spending legislation.

“In contrast to our colleagues on the other side of the aisle, House Democrats want to govern,” said Representative Pete Aguilar of California, the No. 3 Democrat in the House.

Conservative opposition to the stopgap spending bill, which also includes $231 million in additional funding for the beleaguered Secret Service, has quickly stacked up.

Several House Republicans have refused to back any legislation that simply extends federal funding, rather than cutting it.

And many are unhappy that the bill extends funding through the end of December, creating a deadline just before lawmakers are set to go on recess and essentially daring them to pass funding quickly or forgo spending the holidays with their families.

“This is when the leadership here has the maximum influence,” Representative Thomas Massie, Republican of Kentucky, said. “They love to pick the week before Christmas for this showdown because you can smell the jet fuel fumes over” Reagan National Airport.

“People get enthusiastic to vote for something that they haven’t read,” he lamented.

The last time Mr. Johnson relied on a similar procedure to steer around G.O.P. opposition, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia called for a vote to oust him. There is no expectation that will happen again. Lawmakers are set to leave Washington at the end of the week and will not return until after the election, which will determine control of the House and Senate.

But the Sept. 30 funding deadline and the new Dec. 20 deadline create a pair of unwelcome challenges looming over Mr. Johnson just as House Republicans will begin to debate who should lead Republicans in the next Congress.

Congressional leaders struck a deal on the stopgap spending bill after Mr. Johnson abandoned demands for a longer-term deal that also included the proof-of-citizenship requirements.

He was forced to do so after a bipartisan majority of the House voted last week to reject his initial plan, which would have extended current government funding into March. That proposal was met with widespread opposition, including from hard-right Republicans who believe current funding levels are too steep and hawkish conservatives who argued that the six-month timeline would hamper the military by delaying needed spending increases.

Democrats opposed the legislation, saying the proof-of-citizenship requirement was unnecessary and would make it harder to vote.

Maya C. Miller contributed reporting.

Our Coverage of Congress

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