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Who are Johnson’s remaining GOP holdouts on the spending bill?

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Speaker Mike Johnson is trying to muscle through a stopgap spending bill to avert a government shutdown, but he doesn’t have the votes locked down yet.

President Donald Trump is pressing the small group of GOP holdouts to fall in line ahead of the Friday shutdown deadline, and House Democratic leaders are whipping all their members to vote against the bill that would fund the government through September.

“I don’t think House Republicans should expect any Democratic votes to get them over the line,” said one person familiar with ongoing conversations among moderate House Democrats, who was granted anonymity to speak candidly.

If only Republicans vote for it and there’s full attendance, Johnson can’t afford to lose more than one GOP lawmaker.

The hard no: Rep. Thomas Massie is the only House Republican who has definitively said he will not vote to pass the stopgap spending bill — and stuck to it.

The undecideds: Reps. Cory Mills (R-Fla.) and Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) have said they’re on the fence. The speaker and Trump are pushing fiscal hawks who normally oppose stopgap spending bills to get behind this one, with the promise of funding cuts later on this year.

Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) have also indicated they’re undecided, but that they’re likely open to supporting the measure.

The flips: Rep. Michael Cloud (R-Texas), who GOP leaders were watching as a possible holdout, came out this weekend in favor of the plan, after Trump called for Republicans to support it. Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-Ind.) has also indicated that she’ll back it. And the House Freedom Caucus, which usually opposes stopgap funding bills on principle, have supported this plan.

House GOP leaders are planning to move the funding bill through the Rules Committee Monday evening. Senior Republicans don’t expect any GOP amendments or major changes to the measure. Johnson aims to put it on the House floor Tuesday.

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Congress

Johnson pledges House probe into Tesla threats

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Speaker Mike Johnson on Wednesday said Congress will probe “domestic terrorism” attacks targeting the Tesla car brand after vehicles and storefronts were vandalized.

“Congress will investigate the sources of these attacks and help the DOJ & FBI ensure those responsible are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” Johnson said in a post on X.

Johnson’s announcement is the latest attempt by Republican leaders to rally around Department of Government Efficiency head Elon Musk after Tesla’s stock price took a dive in recent days and the company faced a wave of attacks and heated demonstrations. Trump said this week he would buy a Tesla in support of Musk.

Johnson did not explain what committees would be empowered to lead the investigations. Spokespeople for Johnson and House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Hailey Fuchs contributed to this report.

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Jeanne Shaheen won’t seek reelection

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New Hampshire Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen will not seek reelection, she announced Wednesday, becoming the third Senate Democrat to announce their retirement ahead of the midterms.

Shaheen, who is 78 and was first elected to the Senate in 2008, said she made the “difficult” decision to step aside: “It’s just time.”

“There are urgent challenges ahead, both here at home and around the world, and while I’m not seeking reelection, believe me, I am not retiring,” Shaheen said in a video.

New Hampshire will be a critical battleground in the fight over control for the Senate, but it was already a challenging map for Democrats to retake the majority even before the retirements.

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Capitol agenda: Johnson puts Senate Dems in a corner

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House Republicans passed their stopgap funding bill Tuesday evening, which means Senate Democrats can now no longer delay their long-dreaded decision: Do they give up a chance to stand up to Donald Trump or let the government shut down in three days?

Democrats plan to huddle around lunchtime to try and hash out their strategy for confronting the government funding fight. They have already held one “vigorous discussion,” and even the chattiest senators emerged from their Tuesday meeting tight-lipped about their strategy. Many declined to say if they were unified in their approach.

They don’t appear to be. Republicans need at least eight Democrats to vote in favor of the six-month stopgap, given GOP Sen. Rand Paul’s expected opposition. Sen. John Fetterman is expected to cross party lines. But most of the 20 Democrats we surveyed in the minutes after the continuing resolution passed the House were noncommittal — particularly among the swing-state set.

A few are varying shades of “no.” Sen. Jeff Merkley said he will oppose it, while Sen. Richard Blumenthal is a “likely no.” Sen. Alex Padilla said he would not be in favor unless it offered California disaster aid after the Los Angeles wildfires.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer hasn’t said a word publicly since the House vote. Sen. Elizabeth Warren issued a charge of her own: “Democrats in the House have shown us they are united,” she told reporters after all but one House Democrat voted against the stopgap. “Why should it be different in the Senate?”

But Senate Democrats are agonizing over a few things: Getting blamed for the shutdown, especially after House GOP leaders sent members home for recess, is a big consideration. And they’re worried it would give Trump — who’s set to be on Blue Light News today for the annual Friends of Ireland luncheon — unchecked authority to shutter even more parts of the federal government. That’s an especially fresh concern after his administration moved Tuesday to gut the Education Department.

“A shutdown is uncharted territory when you’ve got an administration that, at least in some ways, probably would welcome a shutdown because that would give the president almost unlimited power in deciding who’s essential, who’s nonessential, holding up agencies,” Sen. Angus King, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, told reporters. “That’s the dilemma that’s being discussed.”

What else we’re watching:

  • Dem retreat: House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is looking to get his caucus on the same page at their annual retreat that starts Wednesday, especially after a disjointed response to Trump’s joint address to Congress last week. Democrats’ challenge: How do they channel the anti-Trump energy of the Democratic base — and many of their members — while calibrating their message to the swing voters they need to win?
  • Johnson and Thune meeting: Johnson met with the Senate majority leader on Tuesday as the top congressional Republicans look to hash out their other big problem: a path forward for Trump’s sweeping domestic policy agenda. “Both of us understand we’ve got to get this done. We’re trying to figure out the best way to do that,” Thune said afterward.
  • Visa revisions: House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan is eyeing his party’s flagship immigration bill as the legislative vehicle for giving Musk the overhaul he wants on high-skilled visa rules. Musk has pushed for increasing immigration levels for those with expertise in science, technology and engineering.

Nicholas Wu, Brendan Bordelon and Hailey Fuchs contributed to this report.

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