Johnson Reveals New Plan to Avoid Government Shutdown

The clock is ticking and while we have quite a few Republicans willing to let the government shut down, Speaker Johnson (R-LA) does not appear to be one of them.

Any legislation that Johnson pushes through without election integrity attacked will likely draw the ire of Donald Trump and his supporters.

Even so, Johnson also knows a shutdown could kill the GOP in the upcoming election, so saving the GOP may also be the death of him.

No Middle Ground

Donald Trump has been adamant that he wanted election integrity included in the funding legislation.

My guess is that if Johnson gets something passed that does not include that, Trump will turn on him.

In reality, this is big-picture stuff because the Democrats and media will crush the GOP if the government gets shut down to the point it could impact the 2024 election up and down the ballot.

Democrats have made it clear the SAVE Act will not be passed, and Biden will not sign it, so adding to the legislation serves no point if Johnson really wants to get funding legislation passed.

I have already stated my preferred strategy many times: pass scaled-down funding to keep the government operational through March, and then deal with this mess after the election.

I don’t like CRs, but this is an extreme situation where we really need to make an exception.

Johnson is now trying to get support for the new proposal, writing, “While this is not the solution any of us prefer, it is the most prudent path forward under the present circumstances.

“As history has taught and current polling affirms, shutting the government down less than 40 days from a fateful election would be an act of political malpractice.”

Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) responded, “Democrats will collectively evaluate the spending legislation in its entirety in advance of its consideration on the Floor. Congress is now on a bipartisan path to avoid a government shutdown.”

We have until the end of the day on September 30 to get something passed, so this is more than likely the last chance Johnson is going to have to get this done.

Then we sit back and hope the GOP does not rip itself apart only two months before the election.