Speaker Johnson tees up vote for likely doomed stopgap, election security bill

House Speaker Mike Johnson announced on Tuesday that he would be forging ahead with his plan to keep the government open, but the effort is unlikely to succeed amid lukewarm support from the House GOP and Senate Democrats.

Mr. Johnson, Louisiana Republican, said in a statement that lawmakers would vote Wednesday on his six-month government funding patch paired with legislation that would require proof of citizenship to vote. The procedure comes a week after he pulled the bill from the House floor because of a lack of votes.

“Congress has an immediate obligation to do two things: responsibly fund the federal government and ensure the security of our elections,” Mr. Johnson said. “Because we owe this to our constituents, we will move forward on Wednesday with a vote on the six-month CR with the SAVE Act attached.”

“I urge all of my colleagues to do what the overwhelming majority of the people of this country rightfully demand and deserve — prevent non-American citizens from voting in American elections,” he continued.

At least half a dozen conservatives have voiced public opposition to the bill, and many other Republicans are on the fence on whether to support the measure because they don’t see it having a chance to pass.

Those who have vowed not to vote for Mr. Johnson’s continuing resolution argue that it’s nothing more than a messaging bill with no chance of passing in the Democrat-led Senate. The White House has also laid out a veto threat against the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act since Democrats want the possibility of illegal immigrants voting for them.

Republicans leaning toward voting in favor of the bill are concerned about the length of the stopgap. They contend that pushing the government fight until late March could hurt the military, which is not slated to receive a funding boost from its fiscal 2024 funding levels.

Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer last week urged Mr. Johnson to abandon his plan and work with Democrats in both chambers to produce a bipartisan product.

So far, the Senate has not produced an alternative to Mr. Johnson’s stopgap. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, the top Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee, told reporters that the Senate should start moving “immediately” on producing its own stopgap bill, but should allow the House to first proceed with its vote on Wednesday.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Republican, said that the Senate should “wait and see” what the House sends to the upper chamber, but argued that the one thing Congress could not allow to happen was a government shutdown.

“It would be politically beyond stupid for us to do that right before the election, because certainly we’d get the blame,” he said.