House Republicans sounded off after Speaker Mike Johnson’s proposal to extend government funding failed and divided the GOP conference.
Pressed on whether a shutdown before the election could hurt Republicans, Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene said she thinks “this is a complete failure of the speaker’s strategy.” “Again, we weren’t here in the entire month of August and could have finished our 12 separate appropriations bills,” she said.
The package tied a 6-month funding stopgap to a bill banning non-citizens from voting, known as the SAVE Act. The House voted 202 to 220, with 14 Republicans voting against it with two Republicans voting present. Three Democrats voted for the bill.
Earlier Wednesday, former President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social, encouraging lawmakers to allow the government to shut down rather than pass a funding extension without the SAVE Act included.
Asked about Trump’s post, Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie, who voted present, said: “I think he needs to get to know Mike Johnson. There’s no way Mike Johnson’s doing that. If he think’s Mike Johnson’s doing that, Mike Johnson’s getting one over on Trump.”
Rep. Marc Molinaro, a vulnerable Republican from New York who voted for the package, indicated that he would not support a shutdown. “We have to support the continuity of government,” he told reporters.
New York GOP Rep. Mike Lawler, who supported the legislation, told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on Wednesday evening that “the reality is we’re not shutting down the government with 48 days to go before an election.”
The election is going to be decided by voters based on the issues that are impacting them, Lawler said, and a shutdown “will only distract from that and certainly won’t serve any real purpose.”
This post has been updated with comments from Rep. Mike Lawler.
