WASHINGTON — House Speaker Mike Johnson postponed a vote Wednesday on legislation to temporarily fund the federal government and avoid a shutdown at the end of the month because he didn’t have enough support from fellow Republicans to pass it.
But GOP members of Georgia’s delegation don’t want him to give up the fight. They say they support Johnson’s proposal in its current form, which extends current funding levels for six months and tacks on language requiring proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote in federal elections.
Rep. Barry Loudermilk said he usually is not a fan of continuing resolutions, which Congress relies on to fund the federal government when legislators cannot agree on passing a full spending package. But he said he is ready to support Johnson’s proposal with the voting language attached because it represents a new approach.
“I think he ought to continue to push on,” said Loudermilk, from Cassville. “We have to make significant changes, or nothing is ever going to be different around here.”
Republicans want a six-month extension, in part, so that if Donald Trump wins the presidency, they would have more leverage to insert conservative priorities into a long-term spending plan. Trump on Tuesday encouraged lawmakers to allow the federal government to shut down Oct. 1 if Democrats refuse to go along with Johnson’s plan.
Rep. Rick Allen, an Augusta Republican, said Wednesday that he hopes the speaker will spend the weekend persuading fellow conservatives to go along. Johnson, R-Louisiana, told reporters that he planned to bring the legislation to the floor next week for the rescheduled vote.
“Let them go home this weekend and hear from their constituents,” Allen said of the holdouts. “You know, like, ‘Why do you want to allow illegals to vote in our elections?’”
Democrats are unlikely to vote for Johnson’s legislation. They do not like the voting language, noting that it’s already illegal for noncitizens to vote in federal elections. They also have concerns that extending current spending levels for a half-year could put the Defense Department and other federal agencies that need more funding in a bind.
Some moderate Republicans have expressed similar concerns, leading to a math problem for Johnson, who governs with a small majority.
Rep. Sanford Bishop, one of the top-ranking Democrats on the Appropriations Committee, said the only path forward is for Johnson to strip the voting language and reduce the extension from six months to two or three. “The (continuing resolution) should be clean,” said Bishop, from Albany. “It should extend the government so that we can get the permanent bill passed ASAP. We shouldn’t kick it down the road.”
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has been critical of Johnson throughout his tenure, earlier in the week said she is waiting to see whether the speaker caves to Democrats’ demands. Greene, from Rome, is among the lawmakers who is likely to vote against the legislation if the voting language no longer is attached.
“Is Mike Johnson going to actually fight to push it across the line?” she said.
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