Speaker Johnson’s opening salvo on spending draws GOP doubts

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is prepping House Republicans for a spending battle with Senate Democrats, opting for a strategy that pleases former President Trump and hardline conservatives but complicates the path to averting a government shutdown at the end of the month.

The plan — which pairs a six-month continuing resolution (CR) with a Trump-supported bill to require proof of citizenship to register to vote — grants a win to the House Freedom Caucus, which pushed for a longer stopgap that includes the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act. But it is already drawing doubts from rank-and-file members, who are skeptical that it will prove effective and concerned it could damage the party electorally.

Those dynamics are thrusting Johnson into a familiar — yet thorny — situation: Caught between firebrand hardliners and apprehensive moderates, staring down a Senate Democratic majority, and scrambling to fund the government with just weeks to go until the Sept. 30 shutdown deadline.