By David Averre
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With a majority in the House, a majority in the Senate and Donald Trump in the Oval Office, the GOP should have Washington on lock.
Yet, Congress is currently experiencing a serious traffic jam, due in no small part to Republicans’ inability to agree on government funding, emergency money for the Pentagon and the president’s pet project, the SAVE America Act.
Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson wants to move all three priorities through Congress as quickly as possible. Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune has looked at Johnson’s route, checked the traffic, and ultimately decided he would rather take an entirely different road. The president doesn’t care either way—so long as he gets what he wants, right now.
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While the party continues to squabble, government funding is rapidly running out, the U.S. military needs more money to keep hurling missiles at Iran, and midterms draw ever closer.
A well-oiled government machine this is not.
One Party, Two Bills, Lots of Arguments
The GOP’s tricky predicament is easier to understand once the legislation at its center is separated into two piles.
First is the ordinary government-funding bill. Congress has until September 30 before funding for the everyday operation of federal agencies expires. The House has already passed a temporary bill, known as a continuing resolution (CR), that would keep the government open through December 4, but needs bipartisan support in the Senate.
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The second pile is Johnson’s proposed $95 billion budget resolution, which would allow Republicans to write a reconciliation package containing a combined $73 billion for the military and intelligence, $12 billion in assistance for farmers, and $10 billion for election-related grants that could incentivize states to adopt SAVE America Act-style rules, such as requiring proof of citizenship to register and photo identification to vote.
If Johnson can get this proposed budget resolution through both chambers of Congress, Republicans could pass the eventual bill with their simple majority, rather than needing 60 votes and a helping hand from Democrats to end debate.
In Washington terms, Johnson wants to take the fast lane. Thune, however, thinks Johnson is trying to cram too many passengers into one vehicle.
First off, he believes the temporary government funding bill in its current form leaves out several changes requested by the White House. He would rather settle the issue of government funding properly before pressing ahead with other spending bills—and to do that, he needs Democratic votes.
Secondly, Thune considers the reconciliation strategy politically and procedurally risky. Senate Republicans may demand more defense and farm funding, while SAVE America Act provisions could be stripped out altogether if they are deemed unsuitable under reconciliation’s strict budget rules.
And finally, trying to pass a contentious $95 billion package via reconciliation would expose Republicans to a vote-a-rama, allowing disgruntled Democrats to force dozens of awkward votes weeks ahead of the rapidly approaching midterms.
Put simply, Johnson sees a shortcut around the Democrats. Thune sees an overloaded vehicle heading toward a procedural minefield.
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Ticktock!
The temptation is to dismiss all this as Republican incompetence and petty infighting, but that is not entirely fair. Johnson and Thune are both trying to protect Republican power, but with two completely different challenges.
Johnson is on a House clock: keep a raucous conference together, avoid any embarrassing defections, and get something—anything—passed. He must be combative, showing Trump and the party’s base that Republicans are fighting for the SAVE America Act, and get moving money quickly for the military.
Thune is on a Senate clock: count votes, preserve floor time, and avoid doomed showdowns that waste time, energy, and political capital. For the Senate Majority Leader, give and take is the way forward—his party is one badly designed reconciliation package away from handing Democrats an opportunity to make their Republican colleagues engage on a series of votes tailor-made for attack ads.
Of course, Trump is on a clock of his own that demands fast and visible wins—on Iran, on election rules, and much, much more.
All three timepieces are counting down to the same deadline—the midterms.
How Do Republicans Get Moving Again?
Johnson is rewarded for confrontation, Thune is rewarded for caution. With their majorities, they have enough power to set the agenda in Washington, but taken together, they produce what looks like chaos.
The cleanest solution is also the one many Republicans appear least interested in. Good old-fashioned collaboration.
Congress could first negotiate a solid temporary government-funding bill, before addressing the Pentagon’s funding requirements through a separate measure, and leave the SAVE America Act to fight another day in a format that might actually get it passed.
That would keep the government open and get money to the military sooner rather than later, without forcing every Republican priority through the same narrow procedural gap. It’s closer to Thune’s preferred approach, but runs the risk of delaying Pentagon funding, and won’t help to deliver the White House a win on SAVE any time soon.
It would also require Johnson and Trump to accept that controlling Washington means that, on occasion, you still need a few Democratic votes—so it probably won’t happen.
Only one thing will happen for sure: the midterms. It's therefore in every Republican's interest to sort this out sooner rather than later.
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