Hakeem Jeffries’ red lines on government shutdowns
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Photo: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and his team are making clear they won't budge on anything less than a government funding bill devoid of what he has described in meeting after meeting this week as "poison pills."
Why it matters: That leaves House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) with little choice but to put Democrats' preferred bill on the floor or risk a government shutdown.
State of play: Johnson proposed a stopgap spending measure that would keep the government funded until March with an attached bill, called the SAVE Act, to mandate proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections.
- The measure was swiftly rejected by House and Senate Democrats and the White House, who favor a three-month bill with no policy riders.
- Five House Democrats previously voted for the SAVE Act in July despite Democratic leadership formally instructing its members not to.
- But just one of those members, Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine), has said they would vote for Johnson's spending bill, with another, Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas), indicating he would vote against it.
Ultimately, Johnson pulled a vote on his measure that was planned for Wednesday.
- The bipartisan support he likely needed to make up for a ballooning number of GOP "no" votes on the bill never materialized.
What we're hearing: A Democratic leadership aide told Axios a six-month measure without the SAVE Act attached would be a "nonstarter" for Jeffries.
- Several senior House Democrats predicted their battleground-district colleagues would be highly temped to support such a bill, but formal leadership could keep them from bolting.
- Jeffries said at a press conference on Thursday that he wants to see a full appropriations deal by the end of "this calendar year."
Zoom in: In at least three closed-door huddles this week – with his leadership team, his whip team and his full caucus – Jeffries delivered the same denunciation of Johnson's proposals, according to sources in each meeting.
- He described the SAVE Act as a "poison pill" and warned of the consequences a six-month spending bill – which would keep funding steady at 2023 levels – would have on the VA, the military and Social Security.
- He insisted that there was an agreement as part of last year's debt ceiling deal not to attach extraneous legislation to spending bills – and that Johnson's proposal violates that deal.
- He urged his members to stay unified around a strategy of sitting back and letting Republicans grapple with their own internal divisions.
What they're saying: "We let the Republicans dissolve into chaos and acrimony, and then when they have no other choice they come to us, and we are willing to work with them on a principled basis," said Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.).
- Raskin said Jeffries has "maintained strong caucus unity around people not freelancing," which is necessary given the House's five-vote margin.
- Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.) similarly cast maintaining comity as one of Jeffries' unique strengths, saying he "has managed to keep the very diverse caucus together during some very turbulent times."
