Schumer Expected To Start Process Of Clean Govt Funding Stopgap Today

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is expected to start processing a legislative vehicle today that can eventually be substituted for a Continuing Resolution to avert a government shutdown on October 1.

• The move comes after House Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-LA) plan to fund the government for six months with the partisan 'SAVE Act' attached failed yesterday, with 14 members of his conference voting against the measure.
• Johnson must now decide whether to swallow a ‘clean’ Continuing Resolution that punts funding for three months, the preferred option for Democrats and many Republicans, or take another run at passing something through the House to gain leverage. Taking the latter option has no obvious upsides and risks a government shutdown on October 1.
• Theoretically, yesterday’s failed vote gives Johnson cover to tell his conference that he has no choice but to work with Democrats to pass a compromise bill. But he still faces a major headache with Trump's repeated calls for a shutdown.
• Trump, who sees the SAVE Act as a tool for publicising claims that Democrats are benefiting from non-citizens voting, said: “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."
• Our baseline scenario - that Johnson will consent to a ‘clean’ three-month CR without the SAVE Act - remains unchanged. There appears little political will, even amongst GOP hardliners, to press too hard for conservative priorities and risk a shutdown so close to Election Day.