Johnson will move forward with putting his original continuing resolution up for a vote on Wednesday despite pulling the bill from consideration last week due to a lack of support among his own party. However, the speaker said he would move forward anyway — even without a backup plan if his proposal falls through. 

“No Plan B,” said Rep. Mario Diaz Balart (R-FL), a top appropriator in the House. “The speaker has elected to call the play. He’s calling the play and I’m supporting his play there. He’s been very clear: There’s no Plan B. This is what he’s trying to get done.”

When asked if there have been talks about what happens if the CR-SAVE Act legislation fails in the House, Diaz Balart told the Washington Examiner, “One step at a time.”

“I’m confident the speaker is very clear of what his goal is he’s trying to get this done,” he added. 

At least a dozen lawmakers initially came out in opposition to Johnson’s proposal, which seeks to extend current government spending levels until the end of March and attach a proof-of-citizenship voting bill as a GOP policy rider. That opposition makes the legislation likely dead on arrival, as Johnson can only afford to lose four Republican votes if there is full attendance and all Democrats vote against it.

The House will now vote on the CR on Wednesday after spending the weekend talking with key holdouts in an effort to switch their votes. However, it’s still unclear whether those discussions were enough to sway their opinions. 

Johnson has expressed some confidence privately that a few of those holdouts have come around, according to lawmakers who met with the speaker on Tuesday evening. 

“He felt really good about the direction it’s going,” Rep. Kevin Hern (R-OK), chairman of the Republican Study Committee, told reporters. 

But some key holdouts have already indicated they will still vote against the bill, a reality GOP leaders have acknowledged even as they plan to move forward with the legislation. 

“There’s a lot of members that, for various reasons, want to have the vote whether it passes or fails,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) said. “Obviously, if it doesn’t pass, then you got to move on to Plan B, which is — we’ll work on that later.”

Even if the continuing resolution did make it through the House, the provision attaching the SAVE Act has been deemed a nonstarter Democratic-led Senate. In fact, some Republicans predict sending Johnson’s legislation to the Senate would only result in the return of a clean extension of funding levels without any policy riders, condemning the effort as a waste of time. 

“Johnson will NOT commit to standing up against the Democrats in a shutdown fight and will allow passage of a clean CR in order to fund the government because he believes a gov shutdown will be blamed on Republicans and will hurt their elections,” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), who has rejected the CR proposal, said in a post on X. “Johnson is leading a fake fight that he has no intention of actually fighting.”

Some who are against Johnson’s CR argue the only way to move forward is to refuse passage of any sort of government spending bill until the Senate agrees to pass the SAVE Act as a standalone bill and President Joe Biden vows to sign it, something former President Donald Trump has called on Republicans to do. 

Others have argued forcing a shutdown and dragging the spending fight into October over the SAVE Act would do little, noting it would be too late for the voting bill to make a difference in the November election. 

“I refuse to lie to anyone that this plan will work and it’s already DOA this week,” Greene wrote. “Speaker Johnson needs to go to the Democrats, who he has worked with the entire time, to get the votes he needs to do what he is already planning to do.” 

The emerging divisions have caused a rift among the House GOP conference, as some Republicans accuse their colleagues of forfeiting their leverage in negotiations with the Senate. 

“Want to avoid a lame-duck omnibus?” Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) posted on X. “Pass a six-month CR with the SAVE Act attached.”

“Nah, some Republican nihilists would rather set up the failure they then get to complain about. You and I will vote no on the inevitable CR that results just like they will … but they’ll claim they saved us from … something” Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) responded. 

Not only will Johnson need to wrangle his conference to get some sort of spending deal past the finish line, the speaker must also deal with those internal conflicts as a way to appear unified ahead of the November elections. 

Since taking the majority in early 2023, House GOP leadership has struggled to pass its appropriations bills on time, with the budget for fiscal year 2024 not taking effect until six months past the deadline. That process was also fraught with chaos, resulting in the historic ouster of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy and months of GOP infighting that led to four continuing resolutions to avoid a government shutdown. 

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So far, Johnson has not faced similar threats as no House Republican is calling for his removal from the top leadership position. Instead, some Republicans argue the negotiations are just a result of a divided government, noting that such decisions are not made easily. 

“Yes, there’s going to be people that don’t vote for the final product. If they’re unwilling to pass an initial offering towards a negotiation, then you move on without them. But you know, you have to be able to at least engage in discussion,” said Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY). “Nothing in this place happens just like that.”