House GOP leaders managed to end a weekslong internal rebellion and reestablish control of the floor Tuesday after Republicans united to tee up debate on several major bills.
The 215-211 procedural vote came after different blocs of holdouts spent weeks trying to pressure party leaders into taking steps to enact the GOP elections bill known as the SAVE America Act and to act on a bill codifying President Donald Trump’s border and immigration policies.
Only one Republican broke ranks Tuesday, Rep. Randy Fine of Florida, and the House is now set to vote this week on fiscal 2027 funding for the State Department and overseas programs, a veterans bill and a measure instituting year-round daylight savings time.
The vote is also an encouraging sign for the fresh party-line budget reconciliation bill Speaker Mike Johnson wants to advance this month. Leaders are hoping to have a fiscal blueprint out of committee as soon as this week and ready for floor consideration later in the month.
To appease Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) and other lawmakers agitating for Senate passage of the SAVE America Act, Johnson used the procedural measure approved Tuesday to attach the elections bill to the State Department funding bill before it is sent over to the Senate.
Luna previously rejected a similar gambit, prompting Johnson to start a July 4 holiday recess early, but on Monday she said she would back the approach and vote to unfreeze the floor.
Once the House passes the appropriations bill, as is expected this week, the SAVE America Act will be automatically appended to it. The Senate, however, could move its own version of the bill without the elections piece or simply strip it out due to the lack of support there.
GOP leaders separately promised the hard-liners pushing for the immigration bill that the Judiciary Committee would hold a markup on border security legislation next week, according to four people granted anonymity to describe private talks among Republicans. Those negotiations played out on the floor ahead of the vote in a series of sometimes animated conversations between leaders and groups of holdouts.
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