Here’s Speaker Johnson’s plan for avoiding a government shutdown. Does it include the SAVE Act?

Congress is back from recess after a lengthy summer break and ready to focus on circumventing a government shutdown ahead of the Sept. 30 deadline.
Every year since Utah Rep. John Curtis has been in Congress, “it’s been pretty much the same story,” he told the Deseret News on Friday.
“It’s clear now that there is no feasible way to pass our total appropriation bills on time,” Curtis said. “We need to figure out something.”
The GOP congressman said House Speaker Mike Johnson’s plan is “reasonable,” but added that he thinks if the House passes a continuing resolution it should have the SAVE Act.
“Americans would be more patient with us if we were actually making progress on overall priorities,” Curtis said. He added he shares Johnson’s position that avoiding a shutdown is imperative.
Johnson plans to propose a six-month stopgap bill with an attached provision that would require voters to show ID in order to register to vote, in an effort to keep undocumented immigrants from voting in federal elections.
Conservative lawmakers, including those in the House Freedom Caucus and bill sponsor Utah Sen. Mike Lee, have advocated for the passage of the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility, or SAVE, Act as a part of the continuing resolution.
“There is no fallback position,” Johnson told reporters on Monday. “This is a righteous fight. This is what the American people demand and deserve.”
In response to a question pointing out it’s already illegal for noncitizens to vote, Johnson said, “It’s also illegal for underage persons to buy alcohol, but we still require an ID because we have to enforce the laws that are on the books.” He added, “If just a small percentage of them register to vote … they can throw the election.”
But it’s unclear whether Johnson has enough votes for a stopgap as a handful of Republicans displayed skepticism about Johnson’s plan.
Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., a cosponsor of the SAVE Act, said in a post on X Tuesday he supports the voting reform’s passage but he believes “that our approach is flawed.”
Biggs supports passing the 12 spending bills individually instead of taking the stopgap route. Rep. Matt Rosendale, R-Mont., said he also cosponsored and voted in favor of the SAVE Act, but agreed with Biggs, saying, “Attaching it to another spending gimmick is not the way to do it.”
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky, in his remarks during the House Rules Committee meeting, set to discuss the continuing resolution, accused both sides of the aisle of indulging in “political theater.”
“It’s all posturing, it’s fake, fighting. We all know where it ends up, this is Groundhog Day,” he said. Regardless of which party is in control, “we always get a CR in September, and then we get an omnibus.”
Massie added, “It’s good theater. We’ve got great writers. I wish they’d just come up with a new plot.”
The Kentucky Republican said Johnson will likely remove the attached SAVE Act provision eventually. “I’ve been here 12 years. I’ve seen it 12 times. I refuse to be a thespian in this failure theater,” he concluded.
Rep. Cory Mills, R-Fla., and Reps. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., are also opposed to Johnson’s plan.
“I’ve made it clear … that I’ll be a no on the CR,” Mills said, according to Fox News. “As far as I’m concerned, this is nothing more than messaging.”
Should the SAVE Act and CR pass the House, it is likely doomed in the Democratic-controlled Senate.
Democrats are open to passing a clean CR without any provisions, as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a “dear colleague” letter over the weekend.
“Democrats support a CR to keep the government open. As I have said before, the only way to get things done is in a bipartisan way,” Schumer said.
“Despite Republican bluster, that is how we’ve handled every funding bill in the past, and this time should be no exception. We will not let poison pills or Republican extremism put funding for critical programs at risk.”