House Speaker Mike Johnson faces an uphill battle to get the government reopened after a partial shutdown kicked in over the weekend.
The congressional Republican leader is facing pushback from GOP lawmakers as members returned to Washington on Monday with some House Republicans threatening to withhold votes.
Florida Rep. Anna Paulina Luna on Sunday demanded that the House include the SAVE Act in the funding package, throwing a wrench in the quick passage of legislation.
Johnson has almost a nonexistent Republican majority, and it’s not clear Democrats, who he has largely frozen out, will provide any help, so it could require some gymnastics to get legislation across the finish line.
The Senate passed the five-bill funding package just before the deadline on Friday as well as a two-week extension of funding for the Department of Homeland Security, so lawmakers can renegotiate over ICE amid the fallout over the killing of U.S. citizens in Minneapolis.
But the bills needed to head back to the House for final passage, so the partial government shutdown kicked in until the House returned on Monday.
The deal was worked out between Senate Democrats and the White House, so it’s up in the air how it will be handled in the House.
The House Rules Committee will begin the process to vote on the funding package on Monday afternoon. The committee has a number of conservative House Freedom Caucus members, so the procedural vote will serve as an early test on whether Johnson will have the necessary votes.
Meanwhile, Luna appeared to be standing strong on her threat to shut it all down on Monday afternoon if the SAVE Act is not included.
It requires proof of citizenship to vote. Republicans argue it would ensure only U.S. citizens vote, despite there already being laws in place and voters having to verify eligibility when they register. The House passed it last spring but it’s gone nowhere in the Senate.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer warned on Monday that if the SAVE Act is included in the funding package on the House side, it’s “dead on arrival in the Senate.”
“It is a poison pill that will kill any legislation that it is attached to,“ he said in a statement. ”If House Republicans add the SAVE Act to the bipartisan appropriations package it will lead to another prolonged Trump government shutdown.”
Before Luna’s revolt, Johnson acknowledged his razor-thin majority on Sunday but insisted he would have the votes to reopen the government by Tuesday.
“I have a one-vote margin, yes, for the rest of 2026,” Johnson told Meet the Press. “But we’re going to demonstrate once again that this is the party that takes governing seriously.”
