Mike Johnson defies Trump to pass spending bill without voting provisions

House Speaker Mike Johnson has rebuffed former president Donald Trump’s overtures by letting the House of Representatives vote to approve a spending bill to keep the government funded until December — despite the fact that it included no provisions to tighten elections.

Trump had previously called on House Republicans to not agree to a continuing resolution without the SAVE Act, which claimed it would would prevent illegal immigrants from voting. This, despite the fact that US law already prohibits such a practice in federal elections.

“If Republicans don’t get the SAVE Act, and every ounce of it, they should not agree to a Continuing Resolution in any way, shape, or form,” Trump wrote on Truth Social last week.

The House voted 341-82 to pass the continuing resolution, which will fund the government at levels set in the fiscal year 2024 budget, through December 10. All of the chamber’s Democrats voted to approve the measure, joining with 140 Republicans to pass it under a provision of House rules requiring two-thirds of the chamber to vote on bills that bypass the regular legislative process.

All Democrats voted with 138 Republicans to keep the government open. The House held the vote under suspension of the rules, which allowed for House Republican leadership to sidestep it having a vote in the Rules Committee, given opposition from far-right members. That meant that the legislation had to pass with more than two-thirds of the vote.

Despite defying the former president today, Johnson is a Trump loyalist who even turned up to the former president’s trial in New York to support him. It is unclear how Trump will respond to Johnson’s defying his demands to keep the government open.