Congress
Republican leaders clash on emergency troop pay vote
Speaker Mike Johnson said the House could come back to pass emergency legislation to pay troops during the government shutdown. Senate Majority Leader John Thune wasn’t willing to go there.
The unusual tactical disagreement between the two top congressional leaders played out in front of cameras Tuesday on Capitol Hill as the shutdown heads into its second week.
The House has been out of session as Johnson seeks to pressure Senate Democrats to approve the GOP-led stopgap funding bill his chamber already passed. But he opened the door at a Tuesday news conference to calling members back to vote on standalone legislation paying troops, who could miss paychecks on Oct. 15, or air traffic controllers, who could miss their first checks Friday.
“I’m certainly open to that,” Johnson said. “We’ve done it in the past. We want to make sure that our troops are paid.”
But Thune — who has consistently said it’s Democrats’ responsibility to pass the seven-week House stopgap — interjected after Johnson spoke, saying, “Honestly, you don’t need that.”
“Obviously, there are certain constituencies — many of them are going to be impacted in a very negative way by what’s happened here,” Thune said. “But the simplest way to end it is not try to exempt this group or that one or that group. It’s to get the government open.”
Johnson then spoke again to say the priority should be to open the government and that Democrats could do it quickly. He added that any plan to pay members of the military would have to pass by Oct. 13 in order to process the paychecks on time.
A large contingent of House Republicans — encompassing hard-liners, Budget Committee members, panel chairs and party leaders — piled into Speaker Mike Johnson’s office Thursday afternoon to discuss a second party-line package, according to four people granted anonymity to share details of the private meeting.
Among the lawmakers attending were Budget Chair Jodey Arrington of Texas and Republican Study Committee Chair August Pfluger, also of Texas.
Reps. Chip Roy of Texas, Byron Donalds of Florida, Tom McClintock of California and Josh Brecheen of Oklahoma were also on hand, alongside Pennsylvania Reps. Lloyd Smucker and Scott Perry.
“We’re definitely preparing to move forward,” Johnson said in an interview as he left the meeting, regarding the House GOP Conference’s plans to pursue another bill through the filibuster-skirting budget reconciliation process. “We’re talking about more details. Lots of work going on.”
One of the biggest issues members are trying to work through at the moment is how to close the wide gap between Republicans in the House and Senate. Most House Republicans want a more expansive bill with myriad conservative policy priorities to ride alongside war and defense funding, while the Senate GOP is largely pushing for a more narrowly-focused measure, according to the four people.
Senate Democrats rejected a GOP photo ID amendment Thursday, an issue that Republicans are eager to use as a cudgel in the midterms.
Senators voted 53-47 on the amendment from Ohio Sen. Jon Husted, which needed 60 votes to advance. Republicans wanted to add the language to their election bill, known as the SAVE America Act.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said the amendment “would impose the single strictest voter ID law in America.”
“Stricter than Texas. Stricter than Florida. Stricter than any state in the country,” he said.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said he wants to clinch a bipartisan Department of Homeland Security funding agreement Thursday.
“I think the Dems are now in possession of what I think is our last and final” offer, Thune told reporters. “So let’s hope this gets it done.”
“We’re going to know soon,” he added.
The South Dakota Republican declined to discuss details of the offer but suggested it was similar to where the discussions were headed over the weekend. GOP senators then were looking at a bipartisan deal that would fund most of DHS but leave out funding for ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations.
That offer was rejected by Democrats. But two people granted anonymity to discuss the revised proposal said it, too, omitted only ERO money but included additional language to try to address some of Democrats’ concerns.
Spokespeople for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Senate is expected to vote again on the House-passed DHS bill Thursday afternoon. The House is also voting again on DHS funding Thursday and is planning to leave town Friday morning for a two-week holiday recess. Progress in the Senate could prompt House GOP leaders to stay in session in hopes of sending a bill to President Donald Trump.
Asked about the Senate vote, Thune said he hoped there would be “some finality in this real soon.”
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