House Speaker Mike Johnson said he plans to move quickly to advance President Donald Trump’s signature voter ID legislation through the arduous budget reconciliation process once the House returns to Washington, downplaying the heightened tensions within the GOP after he sent lawmakers home early for the holidays after a few Republicans brought the floor to a halt.
“I just decided it was best to send everybody home to go celebrate July Fourth in their districts. We’ll come back, gather everybody together,” he told Fox News on Sunday. “The big urgency is to get SAVE America passed. The president has that as a top priority, and so do I.”
Last week, a small group of conservative hardliners, led by Florida Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, effectively blocked a key procedural vote to advance several bills on the floor out of protest that Congress had not sent the SAVE America Act to the president’s desk.
Driven by frustration, Trump has already held up a critical intelligence nomination and declined to sign a major bipartisan housing package, despite Senate GOP leaders insisting that they do not have the 60 votes needed to overcome the filibuster and proceed with the elections overhaul bill.
The president again made his demands for the legislation public during a late-night speech on Saturday celebrating the country’s 250th anniversary.
