Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-LA) gambit to attach the SAVE Act to a stop-gap spending bill failed in the House on Wednesday after Republicans opposed the bill.
The six-month stop-gap spending bill, otherwise known as a continuing resolution (CR), failed 202-220.
Fourteen Republicans voted against the legislation and two voted “present,” while three Democrats voted in favor of the bill.
Johnson said during the August recess that he would attach the SAVE Act to the six-month continuing resolution. The SAVE Act would require proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections.
As Breitbart News’s Bradley Jaye reported, many corners of the House Republican Conference opposed the scheme:
Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL) publicly opposed the measure because it would allegedly have a negative impact on defense spending, with other defense hawks expected to follow his lead. A handful of members opposed pairing the SAVE Act with the spending bill. Multiple members of the House Appropriations Committee opposed the six-month length, preferring a three-month bill, which would give appropriators and Democrats the chance to pass a massive omnibus during a lame-duck session of Congress.
Conservatives also opposed a continuation of spending levels and priorities that they did not approve in the first place.
Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN), who voted against the bill, said in a written statement after the vote:
Today I voted against another spending bill that didn’t cut a single cent in federal spending. It adds a trillion dollars to our debt, spends at the same level as when Nancy Pelosi was Speaker, and funds the Biden-Harris White House’s open borders, America Last agenda.
Nearly 60% of Hoosiers say they are driving less to save money on gas and families in Indiana are struggling to cover everyday expenses more than in any other state in the Midwest.
I will not go along with inflationary, Biden-Harris spending that has already made it impossible for working families to make ends meet. Now that this CR has failed, I hope that Speaker Johnson will put a spending bill on the floor that cuts spending and includes the SAVE Act.
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), who has opposed Johnson’s strategy on spending, said, “Today we will vote on a continuing resolution that will fund all of government in one bill and doesn’t cut one penny. I spoke on the House floor this morning to urge my colleagues not to participate in this unserious and insincere political theater.”
Last week, Johnson yanked the spending bill after Republicans across the spectrum opposed the bill.
Sean Moran is a policy reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SeanMoran3.