House GOP funding plan clears key hurdle but remains at risk of failing

Washington (CNN) — A six-month House GOP government funding plan cleared a key hurdle on Tuesday, but remains at risk of failing as Speaker Mike Johnson attempts to navigate a shutdown fight with his narrow majority.

The House voted 209-206 to approve a rule to govern debate for the funding plan, which includes a controversial measure that targets noncitizen voting. A final passage vote is expected to take place Wednesday.

But at least six House Republicans have come out against the funding bill, which is enough to sink it in the House amid Democratic opposition, and the bill is considered dead-on-arrival in the Democratic-controlled Senate. The Biden administration has also said the president would veto the measure.

The six-month funding plan from House Republicans would extend government funding until March 2025. The proposal includes the SAVE Act, a GOP-led bill that passed the House on a standalone basis in July and would require documentary proof of US citizenship to register to vote in federal elections, despite the fact that is already illegal for noncitizens to vote in federal elections.

The push for the measure comes as former President Donald Trump and his allies continue to sow doubts over election integrity in the run-up to the 2024 elections.

Following Tuesday’s vote, Trump urged congressional Republicans on Truth Social that if they “don’t get absolute assurances on Election Security,” they should vote against a continuing resolution to fund the government, previewing the uphill battle Johnson faces ahead of the next vote Wednesday.

Johnson has been trying to salvage the short-term spending plan amid GOP backlash, but wouldn’t rule out passing a “clean” bill to keep the government open when pressed by CNN’s Manu Raju on Tuesday ahead of the vote on the rule.

“I am in this to win this,” the speaker said. “I’m not going to engage in conjecture and, you know, try to game out all the outcomes.”

Johnson’s insistence on forging ahead with the plan comes as frustrated members of the right flank of his conference have predicted that the SAVE Act would likely be dropped once the Senate rejects the measure, even if the funding bill managed to pass the House. Johnson so far has not presented a Plan B. Many House conservatives are also generally opposed to short-term funding bills, arguing instead in favor of spending cuts.

Johnson was adamant earlier Tuesday that House Republicans are “moving forward with the legislation” despite the significant opposition he faces within his own conference and acknowledged, “I’ve got a few more colleagues to talk about. We’ll be doing that today.”

He said the conference had a “good meeting” on Tuesday morning with “some very thoughtful discussion.”

This story has been updated with additional developments.

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