EXCLUSIVE — Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) took one step closer to advancing the next round of spending bills after President Donald Trump helped work through the final GOP objection to an initial procedural vote.
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) lifted his hold on the legislation, known as a minibus, on Wednesday afternoon, telling the Washington Examiner that Trump “started the ball rolling” to address his concerns, centered on a path forward for his Shutdown Fairness Act.
Johnson was one of three fiscal hawks blocking the minibus, which Thune wants to tee up for a vote before Congress leaves for the Christmas recess. However, Johnson walked off the Senate floor saying he had reached an “agreement” with Trump, Thune, and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) on his legislation, which guarantees pay for federal workers if government funding lapses.
Ron Johnson received a vague commitment from the president that Republicans would attempt to pass the bill, according to a source familiar with the matter, while Thune also spoke with him and the speaker to discuss its prospects in the House.
“There have been a lot of folks involved on that one,” Thune said on Wednesday.
“I mean, the president’s spoken with him, I’ve spoken with him, the speaker — I’ve been on the phone with the speaker and Ron, so we’ve worked through some of the concerns and issues he had, and president’s engaged like he usually is,” Thune added.
Ron Johnson was the final holdout on the Republican side, with another source telling the Washington Examiner that Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) planned to drop his hold once his colleague’s concerns were resolved.
Lee will receive two amendment votes to strip the earmarks out of the minibus, plus another amendment to adjust language in the Interior Department funding bill. Last week, Thune offered Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL), the third fiscal hawk, a chance to vote on the Pentagon funding bill separate from the rest of the bill.
Attention now turns to whether Senate leaders can work through possible objections on the Democratic side, with Thune pressuring them to cooperate and allow a vote before the recess.
“As of now, we’re clear on our side, and so hopefully there are enough Democrats that want to appropriate under regular order, which is, you know, what they always say they want to do,” Thune said.
A vote this week would be just the first procedural step, but it would help ease the way for passage in January, when government funding is slated to run out.
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Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), the chairwoman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said there were “a lot” of Democratic amendments for the minibus and that Republicans had yet to hear back on any demands.
“As soon as we get access to them, we’ll start looking at them and then hotlining it again on our side,” she said.
