By Nolan D. McCaskill and Steve Holland
WASHINGTON, June 25 (Reuters) – U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson met President Donald Trump on Thursday in hopes of defusing a standoff with Congress over a stalled package of national voting restrictions that the president views as his top legislative priority.
A day after a contentious closed-door meeting between Trump and Senate Republicans, hardline Trump allies led by U.S. Representative Anna Paulina Luna effectively shut down the House floor until the Senate passes a voter ID bill, known as the SAVE America Act, which the Senate has tried and failed to pass five times since March.
The Republican president used a similar tactic on Wednesday to pressure Senate Republicans by pulling out of a signing ceremony for a popular bipartisan housing bill. Republican leaders had hoped to showcase the bill as evidence they are addressing the high cost of living, the top issue for voters ahead of November’s midterm elections.
Trump and Johnson were expected to discuss a legislative path forward for the SAVE America Act and rescheduling the signing ceremony for the housing bill. Johnson is the top Republican in the House.
Johnson told reporters after the meeting that Congress would transmit the unsigned housing bill to the White House and move forward on other legislation, with Trump calling for an end to any further legislative roadblocks from Republican members.
“He wants to ensure that we stop any blockade in the House. Congress has work to do and that’s what we’re going to do,” Johnson said without mentioning the SAVE America Act.
“We’re on exactly the same page,” Johnson said of Trump and himself.
The White House did not immediately comment on the meeting.
DEBATE OVER PRIORITIES BEFORE ELECTION
Hours after Senate Republicans met with Trump on Wednesday, the chamber left early for a two-week July 4 break without any action on the SAVE America Act, despite mounting pressure from hardliners on Senate Majority Leader John Thune and his Republican colleagues.
“I will not be voting to re-open the floor until the Senate gets back to Washington,” Luna said in a social media post after their departure.
With only a slim 218-212 Republican majority, Johnson can afford to lose no more than two votes on any measure facing unanimous opposition from Democrats. While Johnson’s raucous caucus has caused him problems, he does not face the same challenges that Thune does in the Senate, where rules effectively require bipartisan support of most legislation.
November’s elections will determine whether Republicans retain their majorities in Congress. Trump’s 34% approval rating, according to Reuters/Ipsos, has weighed on fellow Republicans’ popularity.
At a Thursday news conference, eight of Luna’s fellow hardliners emphasized their own opposition to moving forward on House bills while the Senate is out of session.
House Republican leaders tried to overcome the hardliners’ roadblock to advance bills to support veterans and fund government agencies, including the State Department, during the fiscal year that begins on October 1. But the chamber was expected instead to leave town a day early on Thursday without acting on the legislation.
TRUMP FOCUSED ON VOTING RULES
The SAVE America Act would require a photo ID to vote in federal elections and proof of U.S. citizenship to register. It would also compel states to turn over their voter registration rolls to the federal government.
The bill, which faces vehement opposition from Democrats, passed the House of Representatives in February but has since languished in the Senate. Trump also wants the bill to sharply restrict mail-in voting, a concern for Republicans worried that such a change could hurt voter turnout in rural areas.
Critics say the bill targets a nearly non-existent problem of non-citizen voting, which Trump has falsely blamed for his 2020 loss to former President Joe Biden. They also warn the legislation would disenfranchise American citizens who do not have ready access to a passport or birth certificate.
Trump supporters have called for including the SAVE America Act in a special budget reconciliation bill that can pass the Senate with 51 Republican votes and overruling the parliamentarian — the official charged with upholding chamber rules — if the voter ID measure is ruled ineligible, as it was earlier this year.
Johnson told reporters only that he plans to put the legislation on the House floor again. But Representative Tom Emmer, the House’s No. 3 Republican, indicated in an interview that the speaker could be on board with the budget reconciliation strategy.
“You put it on the floor— this is what Mike Johnson is saying — you overrule the parliamentarian,” Emmer told conservative media host John Fredericks.
Thune and other Republicans insist they do not now have the votes for such a maneuver.
Other Republicans have warned that Trump’s focus on the SAVE America Act could help Democrats, who have been quick to seize on the issue.
(Reporting by Nolan D. McCaskill, Steve Holland, David Morgan and Susan Heavey; writing by David Morgan; Editing by Scott Malone, Alistair Bell, Edmund Klamann and Trevor Hunnicutt)
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