House Speaker Johnson axes Trump voting restrictions in new government funding bill

House Speaker Johnson axes Trump voting restrictions in new government funding bill


 U.S. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R) (R-LA) departs a press conference with Republican leadership on Capitol Hill on September 18, 2024 in Washington, DC. 

Win McNamee | Getty Images News | Getty Images

Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson on Sunday announced a new temporary government funding proposal with key amendments from the original bill he put forward 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 as a voter.

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

Congressional Republicans and Democrats have eight days to strike a deal on government funding. If no resolution is reached, the government will go into partial shutdown on Oct. 1 at 12:01 a.m. E.T., just over a month away from the November election when party control will be up for grabs in both the White House and Congress.

“While this is not the solution any of us prefer, it is the most prudent path forward under the present circumstances,” Johnson wrote in the letter. “As history has taught and current polling affirms, shutting the government down less than 40 days from a fateful election would be an act of political malpractice.”

The new bill will likely get to the House floor by Wednesday, according to House Republican aides.

The three-month spending plan also includes $231 million for the Secret Service, responding to increasing pressure from the agency for more resources after another apparent assassination attempt against Trump last Sunday.

Read more CNBC politics coverage

The previous version of Johnson’s bill would have funded the government through March 2025, meaning funding levels would already be set in place for the newly elected president and Congress. It also came with the SAVE Act attached.

Trump preferred that iteration of the spending resolution. He wrote on Truth Social earlier this month that if Republicans “don’t get absolute assurances on Election Security,” they should not hesitate to shut the government down.

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 were against any notion of funding the government on a temporary basis. Others took issue with specific funding allocations, which would have been fixed for six months if the bill passed.

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

“Since we fell a bit short of the goal line, an alternative plan is now required,” Johnson wrote to his colleagues in the letter Sunday.

Democrats also pledged to vote against the six-month bill coupled with the SAVE Act. That meant the proposal would have been dead on arrival in the Democrat-majority Senate.

By dropping 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 had both advocated for a shorter-term proposal with no bills paired so that come January, the newly elected governing body could begin with a blank slate.

Schumer welcomed the changes from the House speaker.

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

“Now that the MAGA GOP bill has failed, it’s clear that only a bipartisan budget bill will keep the government open,” he added. “This blazing red knot that MAGA has tied around the GOP has come loose.”

Johnson’s concessions to Democrats could loom over his speakership. His predecessor, former Republican California Rep. Kevin McCarthy, became the first House speaker to be ousted from his post after he struck a deal with Democrats to avoid a government shutdown in October 2023.



Source

Trump calls for a deal on the Gaza war as signs of progress emerge
Politics

Trump calls for a deal on the Gaza war as signs of progress emerge

A general view of destruction in North Gaza, as seen from the Israeli side of the Israel-Gaza border, on May 17, 2025. Amir Cohen | Reuters TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday pleaded for progress in ceasefire talks in the war in Gaza, calling for a deal that would halt the fighting […]

Read More
Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ clears key Senate hurdle after high drama
Politics

Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ clears key Senate hurdle after high drama

U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) speaks at a press conference following the U.S. Senate Republicans’ weekly policy luncheon on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., June 10, 2025. Kent Nishimura | Reuters President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” cleared a key procedural hurdle in the U.S. Senate late Saturday night, pushing the massive […]

Read More
Elon Musk rips into ‘utterly insane’ Trump-backed megabill
Politics

Elon Musk rips into ‘utterly insane’ Trump-backed megabill

Elon Musk speaks during a press event with U.S. President Donald Trump (not pictured), at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 30, 2025. Nathan Howard | Reuters Elon Musk ripped into the Senate’s massive domestic policy package on Saturday, calling it “utterly insane” and destructive.” His remarks come weeks after he first hurled […]

Read More