President Donald Trump’s controversial elections speech on Thursday night has “scrambled” the agenda for Republicans in Congress once again and left one in particular with a big problem, Politico reported on Friday.
Per the report, Republican leaders have been trying to walk back the idea of adding portions of the SAVE America Act, Trump’s pet project bill to place a bevy of new restrictions on voting, instead pushing a “clean” reconciliation bill.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has pushed a plan that “would fund the government well ahead of the normal Sept. 30 deadline in a Congress that’s already seen two record-breaking funding lapses.”
According to Politico’s anonymous sources, Johnson has been working hard to lobby Trump for his support.
“According to three people granted anonymity to discuss private conversations, ” Politico reported, “Johnson has also been privately trying to convince Trump to endorse the plan in hopes of stoking another shutdown fight far in advance of the midterms, which Republicans believe would work to their party’s advantage at the polls.”
This conflict arrises as Johnson and fellow House GOP leaders face mounting pressure, Politico noted.
“House GOP leaders are trying to put that budget resolution on the floor next week, too — setting up some serious whip operations for leaders trying to get buy-in from all corners of their conference on both measures,” according to the report.
“It won’t be easy, and Senate Majority Leader John Thune provided Johnson with another cold reality check Thursday. After learning the speaker was telling reporters the Senate would adopt the House’s budget framework before August recess, Thune responded, ‘That’d be news to me.’”
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