House Speaker Boris Johnson scraps Trump voting rules in government funding bill

House Republican Speaker Mike Johnson on Sunday announced a new temporary government funding proposal with key amendments to the original bill he introduced earlier this month, going against former President Donald Trump’s wishes and making some concessions to Democrats.

The new bill would fund the government through Dec. 20 and does not include any part of the SAVE Act, the Trump-backed election security proposal that would require people to show proof of citizenship to register to vote.

In a letter to colleagues on Sunday, Johnson said the “very narrow and minimalist” proposal would include “only those extensions that are absolutely necessary” to avoid a government shutdown.

Republicans and Democrats in Congress have eight days to reach an agreement on funding the government. If no agreement is reached, the government will be partially shut down on October 1 at 12:01 a.m. ET, just over a month before the November elections, when party control of the White House and Congress will be at stake.

“While this is not our preferred solution, it is the most prudent course under the current circumstances,” Johnson wrote in his letter. “As history has taught and current polls confirm, shutting down the government less than 40 days before a fateful election would be an act of political malfeasance.”

The new bill is expected to be introduced in the House of Representatives by Wednesday, according to House Republican aides.

The three-month spending plan also includes $231 million for the Secret Service, in response to growing pressure on the agency for more resources after another apparent assassination attempt on Trump last Sunday.

The previous version of Johnson’s bill would have funded the government through March 2025, meaning funding levels would have already been set for the newly elected president and Congress. It was also accompanied by the SAVE Act.

Trump preferred this version of the budget resolution. He wrote on Truth Social earlier this month that if Republicans “don’t get absolute guarantees that the election is secure,” they shouldn’t hesitate to shut down the government.

But the six-month stopgap funding bill, paired with the SAVE Act, struggled to get off the ground within the House Republican caucus. Some GOP members opposed any idea of ​​temporary funding for the government. Others objected to the specific funding allocations, which would have been set for six months if the bill had passed.

With a razor-thin majority in the House, Johnson could afford to lose only four Republican votes to pass the bill in his own chamber.

“Since we are one step short of the finish line, an alternative plan is now necessary,” Johnson wrote to his colleagues in Sunday’s letter.

Democrats also pledged to vote against the six-month bill, coupled with the SAVE Act, meaning the proposal would have been dead on its way to the Democratic-majority Senate.

By abandoning the SAVE Act and introducing a three-month bill, Johnson’s new funding proposal reflects key compromises with Democrats.

President Joe Biden and Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer have both pushed for a shorter-term proposal, without any accompanying bill, so that the newly elected governing body can start with a clean slate in January.

Schumer welcomed the changes made by the House speaker.

“We have some really good news now,” Schumer said at a news conference Sunday, noting that a government shutdown would likely be avoided.

“Now that the GOP’s MAGA bill has failed, it’s clear that only a bipartisan budget bill will keep government running,” he added. “That fiery red noose that MAGA tied around the GOP has come undone.”

Johnson’s concessions to Democrats could weigh on his tenure as House speaker. His predecessor, former California Republican Rep. Kevin McCarthy, became the first House speaker to be removed from office after striking a deal with Democrats to avoid a government shutdown in October 2023.