Mike Johnson's funding bill flops as Trump demands shutdown ultimatum
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) suffered a blow on Wednesday night, as his short-term government funding bill failed.
The House rejected the measure by a vote of 202-220, according to C-SPAN. Fourteen Republicans voted against the measure and just three Democrats crossed the aisle to support it.
The core sticking point was the inclusion of the SAVE Act, a GOP legislative priority that would effectively gut the National Voter Registration Act by adding cumbersome new requirements for people to prove citizenship to register to vote — something that is already required by law.
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Former President Donald Trump had demanded passage of the bill with the voter restrictions attached, telling the GOP to let the government shut down if they canot pass the bill as is.
This came as several GOP leaders, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), expressed open frustration at the fact that the GOP was entertaining a potentially politically destructive shutdown fight with just weeks to go before the election.