Senior US House Republican calls for talks with Democrats as shutdown looms

By Moira Warburton

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A senior U.S. House Republican said on Thursday that his party needs to begin talks with Democrats on funding the government past a Sept. 30 deadline, as Speaker Mike Johnson plotted his next move after pulling a controversial stopgap funding bill.

Representative Tom Cole, the Republican chair of the House Appropriations Committee, told reporters that he and others were "supportive of what he (Johnson) is trying to do," but pointed out that the deadline is rapidly approaching.

Johnson on Wednesday canceled a vote on a bill that would have extended government funding at current levels into March 2025 and implemented a controversial provision requiring people to provide proof of citizenship to register to vote because of opposition within his own party.

Republicans currently hold a 220-211 House majority, meaning they have repeatedly had to rely on Democrats to pass legislation.

But Democrats opposed the funding bill due to the voting measure, which they said was unnecessary given that it is already illegal for noncitizens to vote in federal elections.

Johnson is under added pressure from Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, who has urged Republicans to shut down the government if they cannot pass the voting measure.

But Trump's position is not popular among the moderates in his party, many of whom are about to face tough reelection fights in the Nov. 5 general election.

"We can't have a government shutdown five weeks before an election," Cole said. "There are some things that do need to be negotiated, and the final deal is going to take Democratic votes," he said, pointing to Democratic control of the U.S. Senate and the White House, both of which will need to agree to any final stopgap funding solution.

Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told reporters on Thursday that he had a "brief conversation" with Johnson the day before about finding "a path forward" on government funding, but declined to share details of the discussion.

(Reporting by Moira Warburton and Bo Erickson; Editing by Scott Malone and Jonathan Oatis)