Johnson said he believes Trump ‘understands’ House GOP doesn’t have the votes to pass SAVE Act
CNN
House Speaker Mike Johnson believes President Donald Trump understands that House Republicans do not have the votes to pass the SAVE Act, following a private meeting between the two men on Thursday night.
House Speaker Mike Johnson believes President Donald Trump understands that House Republicans do not have the votes to pass the SAVE Act, following a private meeting between the two men on Thursday night. Publicly, the former president has called on Republicans to shut down the government if they could not attach the controversial measure targeting non-citizen voting to government funding. “Look, President Trump fully understands the situation, he understands our margins and he’s frustrated as I am that we couldn’t get that done in the original play, but we go back to the play” Johnson said. “But, we go back to the playbook, we’ll have a Plan B, we’re having thoughtful conversations developing that. I’m sure it will come together over the weekend.” The SAVE Act is a GOP-led bill that passed the House on a standalone basis in July and would require documentary proof of US citizenship to register to vote in federal elections, despite the fact that is already illegal for noncitizens to vote in federal elections. The House failed on Wednesday to pass a six-month GOP government funding plan that included the controversial measure. Asked specifically if Trump wants Johnson to shut the government down over this issue, Johnson said, “Look, President Trump understands our dilemma. He wants election security as I do. We’re going to use every opportunity, every measure, every platform we have to press that.” Separately, Johnson said he spent “a lot of time” with Trump.
The CIA has sent the White House an unclassified email listing all new hires that have been with the agency for two years or less in an effort to comply with an executive order to downsize the federal workforce, according to three sources familiar with the matter – a deeply unorthodox move that could potentially expose the identities of those officers to foreign government hackers.