SerpApi.Org
Speaker Mike Johnson secured a win Tuesday in his race to have the House pass several major bills by the end of the week. The House voted 214-211 to advance the bills, including the budget resolution paving the way for the GOP’s $95 billion “Reconciliation 3.0” package, a defense policy bill for 2027 and a stopgap measure to fund the government into December.
As part of the vote, the House also agreed to merge the SAVE America Act — the voter ID and proof-of-citizenship bill that President Trump has demanded — with the annual defense policy bill before it gets sent to the Senate.
Johnson has managed to move past a rebellion by House hard-liners that derailed legislative business in recent weeks. He and House GOP leaders still needed to convince some GOP holdouts to support the procedural vote, but in the end, Rep. Thomas Massie was the only Republican to oppose the rule.
Tuesday’s procedural success sets up additional votes on the short-term funding extension, expected later tonight, and the GOP budget resolution, expected on Wednesday.
Most Democrats are likely to oppose the stopgap funding bill, known as a continuing resolution. The House GOP measure would extend current funding until December 4, but it was drafted without Democratic input and before the White House issued a list of more than 50 adjustments it wants to spending levels in the funding patch.
Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, said that unlike a previous bill funding the Department of Homeland Security, the new GOP stopgap would allow the Trump administration to fund the Border Patrol without substantial reforms, violating “a clear line in the sand that Democrats have drawn for months.”
The Senate, meanwhile, is working on its own short-term funding bill. Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters Tuesday that he intends to bring a continuing resolution to the Senate floor before the August recess. That bill is expected to reflect the White House’s list of “anomalies.”
Thune also warned that Republicans will hold off on the House budget resolution and reconciliation package until the issue of government funding is settled. He threatened to use the party-line reconciliation bill to fund the government if a deal isn’t reached with Democrats.
“It’s a possibility that, if necessary, we could pull that budget resolution passed by the House and use it to fund government,” Thune told reporters during a weekly press conference. “I hope that’s not necessary. As I said, we’ve had productive conversations on both sides of the aisle on a funding resolution that would carry us past the November election.”
It’s not completely clear yet whether the Republican budget resolution can pass the House this week. Some House GOP hard-liners have raised concerns about the plan because it lacks cuts to offset the added spending. Some Republicans have also said they fear that the Senate will reject or weaken the SAVE America Act.
“While I lean toward supporting the budget framework to drive Senate action on SAVE America… I withhold final judgment due to deficit increases and concerns that the Senate will do nothing OR only send back watered down SAVE,” Rep. Chip Roy wrote in a post on X Tuesday.
