All eyes on Speaker Johnson for next move on government funding

All eyes are on Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) this week as lawmakers await his next move in the fight over government funding, after Republican resistance foiled his initial strategy for avoiding an end-of-the-month shutdown.

Johnson — amid opposition from multiple corners of the GOP conference — scrapped plans last week to vote on a partisan funding plan, which paired a six-month continuing resolution with a bill to require proof of citizenship to vote. Congress adjourned for the week without voting on legislation to avert a shutdown.

Members in both parties and chambers are now waiting for Johnson to announce his next play in the funding process as the Sept. 30 shutdown deadline inches closer. The Speaker has suggested he may make another attempt at passing his partisan stopgap bill this week, which would face heavy headwinds in the House as critics — particularly Democrats and fiscal hawks — dig in on their opposition.

Both chambers, meanwhile, will be focused on the fallout from Sunday’s apparent assassination attempt against former President Trump — the second in recent weeks — which took place at his golf course in Florida. The Trump campaign said the former president is “safe.” The House task force looking into the July assassination attempt against Trump has already said it requested a briefing from the Secret Service about Sunday’s incident.

In the Senate, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) is staging a vote on a bill to protect in vitro fertilization (IVF) as Democrats continue to emphasize women’s reproductive rights on the campaign trail. And the House Foreign Affairs Committee will move to hold Secretary of State Antony Blinken in contempt of Congress this week over allegations that the official has failed to respond to a subpoena requesting him to testify about the U.S.’s messy withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Congress awaits Johnson’s funding play

Johnson is expected to move on government funding this week — the path he takes, however, remains unknown.

The Speaker last week attempted to pass his partisan spending plan that included a six-month continuing resolution and the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which would require proof of citizenship to vote in U.S. elections. But he called off the vote hours before because it was poised to fail amid multi-pronged GOP opposition: Hardline conservatives said they would not support a stopgap, defense hawks expressed concerns about the impact the funding would have at the Pentagon, and moderates were worried about having a shutdown threat so close to the election.

Johnson told reporters on Wednesday that his leadership team would take the weekend to “build consensus” on the legislation, and suggested it could come up for a vote this week.

“The whip is going to do the hard work and build consensus. We’re going to work through the weekend on that,” Johnson said.

Asked Thursday how that effort was progressing, the Speaker said: “We have a lot of people making thoughtful decisions, it’s fruitful.”

Johnson has not signaled how he plans to approach the funding fight when lawmakers return to Washington this week, though he has several options — none of which would be unanimously accepted within the House GOP conference.

The Speaker could make another attempt at bringing his CR-plus-SAVE Act up for a vote, though it would still face heavy headwinds from hardline conservatives, defense hawks and moderates.

Johnson could keep the SAVE Act in the package and shorten the length of the continuing resolution from six to three months, a move that would ease concerns among defense hawks but likely draw more opposition from hardline conservatives. Even if the legislation were to squeak through the House, however, it would still be a non-starter in the Senate, where Democrats have said noncitizen voting is already illegal and rare, and have argued that the legislation could burden eligible voters.

And finally, the Speaker could move forward with a clean continuing resolution — likely a three-month stopgap — a move that would be poised to pick up support among Democrats, but incense hardline Republicans and Trump, who has urged Republicans to oppose any government funding unless it addresses election integrity. Several Republicans have said they see the funding fight inevitably ending with a clean continuing resolution.

The Speaker could also attempt to move a clean six-month continuing resolution, though that would still face opposition among defense hawks and hardline conservatives and Trump, who are pushing for the inclusion of the SAVE Act.

Johnson has not indicated which direction he is leaning. But the menu of options, none of which would please all House Republicans, are putting him in a bind, as he works to avert a shutdown and protect his standing in the GOP conference — particularly among hardline conservatives — as he looks to retain his leadership position in the next Congress.

Congress reacts to apparent Trump assassination attempt

Sunday’s apparent assassination attempt against Trump — the second of such an occurrence in recent weeks — is expected to be a focus for lawmakers on Capitol Hill this week as they look into the incident against the former president.

Rep. Mark Kelly (R-Pa.), the chairman of the Trump assassination attempt task force, and Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.), the ranking member of the group, said they have already requested a briefing from the Secret Service about the occurrence, writing in a statement that they are “deeply concerned about political violence.”

“The Task Force is monitoring this attempted assassination of former President Trump in West Palm Beach this afternoon. We have requested a briefing with the U.S. Secret Service about what happened and how security responded,” the pair wrote. “We are thankful that the former President was not harmed, but remain deeply concerned about political violence and condemn it in all of its forms. The Task Force will share updates as we learn more.”

News of the apparent assassination attempt first became public just before 2:30 p.m. eastern time on Sunday, when Trump’s campaign communications director released a statement that said “President Trump is safe following gunshots in his vicinity. No further details at this time.”

Authorities later held a press conference and disclosed that a Secret Service agent opened fire on a man with a gun near the Trump International golf course in West Palm Beach, Fla. Trump was golfing at the time. A man is in custody in connection to the incident.

Top lawmakers reacted to the news on Sunday. Johnson met with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago residence after the incident, a source familiar told The Hill, and he has been briefed on the matter, the source said. Johnson posted a photo with the former president on X, writing that he and his wife “are thanking God for protecting him today—once again.”

In a statement on Sunday, Schumer wrote: “There is no place in this country for political violence of any kind. The perpetrator must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

Senate to vote on protecting access to IVF

The Senate is slated to vote on legislation to protect access to IVF this week, the second time this year as Democrats continue to lean into the issue of women’s reproductive rights on the campaign trail.

Senate Republicans blocked an effort in June to codify access to IVF, with the chamber falling short of the 60 votes needed to advance the legislation. Just two Republicans — Sens. Susan Collins (Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) — joined Democrats in supporting the measure, bringing the final vote to 48-47.

In a letter to colleagues on Sunday, Schumer said he wanted to give Republicans a second opportunity to cast a vote in favor of safeguarding IVF access.

“The American people deserve another chance to see if Senate Republicans will back up their words and vote for access to IVF or vote against it. It's that simple," he wrote.

This week’s vote, however, comes after Trump declared that, if he wins the election, his administration would have the government or insurance companies pay for IVF, a comment that sought to shift the dynamics in the debate over women’s reproductive rights.

While the majority of Republican lawmakers have openly expressed support for IVF, there is debate in the GOP over whether life begins at conception, which has muddied the party’s messaging. Republican senators tried to bring up their own IVF bill after the failed vote in June, but Democrats blocked them.

Democrats, for their part, have argued that the Supreme Court’s decision striking down Roe v. Wade opened the door for efforts against IVF. The issue catapulted to national headlines after a February Alabama Supreme Court ruling that said frozen embryos could be considered the same as children, which would make discarding them criminal. In March, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey (R) signed a bill to protect IVF providers from the ruling.

House panel to move to hold Blinken in contempt

The House Foreign Affairs Committee this week is scheduled to mark up a measure to hold Blinken in contempt of Congress as the GOP-led committee continues its push to secure the secretary’s testimony on the U.S.’s messy withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.

The markup — scheduled for Thursday at 2 p.m. — comes after House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Texas) issued Blinken a subpoena on Sept. 3, asking that he testify before the panel following the panel’s release of its report into the U.S. withdrawal. The report, which spans 115 pages, was the culmination of a more than three-year investigation.

State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said Blinken is not available to appear before the committee on the dates proposed, but said the department put forth “a number of reasonable alternatives to comply with Chairman McCaul’s request for a public hearing, including offering alternative senior-level witnesses to testify next week or making the Secretary available to testify at a later date that works for both his and the Committee’s schedule.”

“It is disappointing that instead of engaging with the Department in good faith and accepting our repeated offers to testify, the Committee instead is short-circuiting further discussion and moving forward with this mark-up,” Miller said.

If the contempt resolution clears the committee, it will then head to the House floor for a full vote.