The House is expected to hold critical votes on a must-pass funding package today.
It is unclear whether House Speaker Mike Johnson has enough GOP support to advance the Senate-passed bill to approve funding for much of the federal government through the end of September.
The deal, struck by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and President Donald Trump, funds the Department of Homeland Security for only two weeks to allow for long-term negotiations on federal immigration enforcement as Democrats seek to rein in the agency.
Yesterday, Trump said congressional leaders are nearing a “resolution” to the partial lapse in federal funding.
“I think they’re pretty close to a resolution,” he said from the Oval Office, noting that he’d spoken recently with Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, a Florida Republican, and roughly a half-dozen other conservatives had been vowing to block the funding bill if Johnson didn’t agree to attach their bill, which would tighten restrictions for voting in the US, including requiring proof of citizenship.
Trump has supported a push for stricter voter ID laws. But he said on the eve of the critical House vote that he wants to adopt the government funding bill with “NO CHANGES” and sign it quickly to avoid “another long, pointless, and destructive Shutdown.”
But by Monday night, the congresswoman and at least one of those hardliners, Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee, said that after meeting with Trump, they’re now leaning in favor of advancing the bill to reopen the government.
Congress now appears on a path to avoiding a prolonged shutdown, though Johnson could still face lingering concerns from other members as he faces some of the toughest math in the history of the House. House GOP leaders can only afford to lose a single Republican vote, since no Democrats are expected to back the majority party’s procedural vote.