Trump's 11th-hour help puts Johnson within reach of ending shutdown
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Speaker Johnson during a news conference on Jan. 13. Photo: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
President Trump extracted two "yes" votes from a pair of GOP holdouts on Monday, bringing House Speaker Mike Johnson closer to ushering a spending bill to the floor and ending the government shutdown.
Why it matters: After meeting with Trump at the White House, Reps. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) and Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) returned to the House to say they're leaning toward voting "yes" on the "rule" to allow the funding bills to come to the floor.
🤝 In exchange, they said they received a promise that the Senate would vote on the SAVE Act, which would require proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote in federal elections.
- "There is something called a standing filibuster that would effectively allow [Senate Majority Leader John Thune] to put voter ID on the floor of the Senate," Luna said. "We are hearing that that is going well, and that he is considering that."
- "We want to vote on voter ID in the Senate, and I think we're going to get it."
- Johnson said Monday he thinks Republicans have the votes to pass a rule on Tuesday, Politico reports.
White House officials James Braid and Jeff Freeland joined a meeting of the House Freedom Caucus Monday evening, sources in the room told Axios.
- They discussed the path forward for the SAVE Act in the Senate, and using the "standing filibuster." The White House aides made clear they plan to have a conversation with Thune.
- Freedom Caucus members also expressed frustration to White House aides about why a two-week DHS CR puts them in a better position.
- The White House officials told members that two weeks gives them time between "the events" and that ICE is already fully funded with or without a DHS appropriations bill, per one House Republican in the room.
What we're watching: For Trump and Johnson, there's more work to do, but some conservatives are already folding.
- Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) announced during a Rules Committee hearing Monday that he will "reluctantly" vote yes.
📞 And Trump is working the phones.
- "He's making individual calls, and he's all in," Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) told reporters.
- "I'm just told by the White House that they're working really hard to get the Republicans in the right place. And when they work hard, they tend to be successful."
📱 Trump's private pressure campaign mirrors his public calls to pass the Senate bill.
- "There can be NO changes at this time," Trump posted on Truth Social on Monday, urging House Republicans and Democrats to support the package.
- "We all want the SAVE Act, but we have to look at the reality of the numbers here," Johnson told reporters on Monday. "I don't think we need to be playing games with government funding."
Zoom out: Johnson is heading into yet another test of his speakership.
- His margins got even slimmer on Monday when he swore in Rep. Christian Menefee (D-Texas), who won a special election Saturday. Now, the speaker only has a one-vote cushion.
Zoom in: Johnson's headaches won't end after Tuesday's rule vote.
- Freedom Caucus members want a seat at the negotiating table for the full-year DHS appropriations bill.
- Conservatives are rejecting ICE reforms that Democrats are pushing and want their own priorities included.
- That could pose a problem over the next two weeks as Congress scrambles to pass a full-year bill.
The bottom line: Yet again, Trump is whipping for votes, calling members and pressing for their votes.
