GOP leaders sound increasingly confident they can pass a spending package and end partial shutdown

WASHINGTON (AP) — Speaker Mike Johnson’s quality to transportation retired President Donald Trump’s “play call” for backing the authorities volition beryllium enactment to the trial connected Tuesday arsenic the House votes connected a measure to extremity the partial shutdown.

Johnson volition request near-unanimous enactment from his Republican league to proceed to a last vote, but helium and different GOP leaders sounded assured during a Tuesday greeting property league that they volition succeed. Johnson tin spend to suffer lone 1 Republican connected enactment enactment votes with cleanable attendance, but immoderate lawmakers had threatened to vessel the effort if their priorities are not included. Trump weighed successful with a societal media post, telling them, “There tin beryllium NO CHANGES astatine this time.”

“We volition enactment unneurotic successful bully religion to code the issues that person been raised, but we cannot person different long, pointless, and destructive Shutdown that volition wounded our Country truthful severely — One that volition not payment Republicans oregon Democrats. I anticipation everyone volition vote, YES!,” Trump wrote connected his societal media site.

The measurement would extremity the partial authorities shutdown that began Saturday, backing astir of the national authorities done Sept. 30 and the Department of Homeland Security for 2 weeks arsenic lawmakers negociate imaginable changes for the bureau that enforces the nation's migration laws — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, oregon ICE.

“The Republicans are going to bash the liable thing,” Johnson said.

Running Trump's ‘play call’

The House had antecedently approved a last bundle of spending bills for this fiscal twelvemonth ending Sept. 30, but the Senate broke up that bundle truthful that much negotiations could instrumentality spot for the Homeland Security backing bill. Democrats are demanding changes successful effect to events successful Minneapolis, wherever 2 American citizens were changeable and killed by national agents.

Johnson said connected Fox News Channel's “Fox News Sunday” it was Trump's "play telephone to bash it this way. He had already conceded helium wants to crook down the volume, truthful to speak.” But GOP leaders sounded arsenic if they inactive had enactment to bash successful convincing the rank-and-file to articulation them arsenic House lawmakers returned to the Capitol connected Monday aft a week backmost successful their legislature districts.

“We ever enactment till the midnight hr to get the votes,” said House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La. “You ne'er commencement the process with everybody connected board. You enactment done it, and you could accidental that astir each large measure we've passed.”

The backing bundle passed the Senate connected Friday. Trump says he'll motion it instantly if it passes the House. Some Democrats are expected to ballot for the last measure but not for the archetypal procedural measurement mounting the presumption for the House debate, making it the tougher trial for Johnson and the White House.

Democratic person Hakeem Jeffries has made wide that Democrats wouldn't assistance Republicans retired of their procedural jam, adjacent though Senate Democratic person Chuck Schumer helped negociate the backing bill.

Jeffries, of New York, noted that the procedural ballot covers a assortment of issues that astir Democrats oppose, including resolutions to clasp erstwhile President Bill Clinton and erstwhile Secretary of State Hillary Clinton successful contempt of Congress implicit the Jeffrey Epstein investigation.

“If they person immoderate monolithic mandate,” Jeffries said of Republicans, “then spell walk your rule, which includes toxic bills that we don't support."

Key differences from the past shutdown

The way to the existent partial shutdown differs from the autumn impasse, which affected much agencies and lasted a grounds 43 days.

Then, the statement was implicit extending impermanent coronavirus pandemic-era subsidies for those who get wellness sum done the Affordable Care Act. Democrats were unsuccessful successful getting those subsidies included arsenic portion of a bundle to extremity the shutdown.

Congress has made important advancement since then, passing six of the 12 yearly appropriations bills that money national agencies and programs. That includes important programs specified arsenic nutrition assistance and afloat operating nationalist parks and historical sites. They are funded done Sept. 30.

But the remaining unpassed bills correspond astir three-quarters of national spending, including the Defense Department. Service members and national workers could miss paychecks depending upon the magnitude of the existent backing lapse.

Voting measure becomes last-minute obstacle

Some House Republicans person demanded that the backing bundle see authorities requiring voters to amusement impervious of citizenship earlier they are eligible to enactment successful elections. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., had said the legislation, known arsenic the SAVE Act, indispensable beryllium included successful the appropriations package.

But Luna appeared to driblet her objections precocious Monday, penning connected societal media that she had spoken with Trump astir a "pathway forward" for the voting measure successful the Senate that would support the authorities open. Luna and Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., met with Trump astatine the White House.

The Brennan Center for Justice, a deliberation vessel focused connected ideology and voting rights issues, said the voting bill's transition would mean that Americans would request to nutrient a passport oregon commencement certificate to registry to ballot and that astatine slightest 21 cardinal voters deficiency acceptable entree to those papers.

“If House Republicans adhd the SAVE Act to the bipartisan appropriations bundle it volition pb to different prolonged Trump authorities shutdown,” said Schumer, of New York. “Let’s beryllium clear, the SAVE Act is not astir securing our elections. It is astir suppressing voters."

Johnson, of Louisiana, has operated with a bladed bulk passim his tenure arsenic speaker. But with Saturday's peculiar predetermination successful Texas, the Republican bulk stands astatine a threadbare 218-214, shrinking the GOP's quality to withstand defections.

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Associated Press video writer Nathan Ellgren and legislature analogous Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report.

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