Trump assassination attempt latest: Federal authorities haven’t yet charged Ryan Wesley Routh after he was detained on Sunday following an alleged failed assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump during a round of golf. You can read about Routh here, here and here.
Trump was wounded in the deadly July 13 shooting in Butler, Pa., so the fact that the alleged gunman got anywhere close to Trump is especially shocking. The political fallout is just beginning, as is the FBI investigation. Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis announced that state officials will conduct their own probe. President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and Democratic congressional leaders released their own statements decrying any kind of political violence. This isn’t and won’t be enough for Trump allies, however.
Reps. Mike Kelly (R-Pa.) and Jason Crow (D-Colo.), chair and ranking member of the task force looking into the July 13 shooting, released a joint statement saying they have requested a briefing from the Secret Service.
Government funding: The House comes back into session Tuesday. Take your time, people. The federal government only runs out of money in 15 days, no big deal!
Here’s the reality: The House Republican leadership is no closer to getting the votes for Speaker Mike Johnson’s six-month stopgap funding bill with the SAVE Act attached. Johnson — who was with Trump on Sunday before the former president went to the golf course — pulled this package from the floor last week when it was clear that he was nowhere near 218 votes.
The outlook has only gotten murkier over the last few days. In fact, the GOP leadership seems content with spending the week trying to figure out if there’s anything they can pass. But if House Republicans can’t do that, they’ll have to accept a clean mid-December CR, either their own or one from the Senate.
Here’s what rank-and-file House Republicans told their leadership over the last few days:
– Some GOP lawmakers are saying they’ll never vote for a CR no matter how long it is. That’s the view of many hardline conservatives in the House Republican Conference.
– Other Republicans are saying that they need a long-term stopgap until March 28. This is Johnson’s plan. Others want a different date early in the next Congress. The idea is that Republicans don’t get jammed with a massive end-of-year omnibus funding bill filled with Democratic priorities. These Republicans hope Trump wins and can exercise more power over the spending process early in his term.
– Then there are traditional Republicans who are telling their leadership they should give in and accept a mid-December end date for a CR. This is also what House Democrats, the Senate and the White House want.
This all points to an uncomfortable reality for Johnson, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise and House Majority Whip Tom Emmer — it’s increasingly obvious that House Republicans may not be able to pass any CR on their own.
In order for the House to have any influence at all in this process, the chamber needs to pass something soon. The Senate will need several days at least to process any stopgap package. Federal funding runs dry Oct. 1.
If the House doesn’t act, the Senate could pass a CR that extends funding until mid-December. Think Dec. 13 or Dec. 20. That would give Johnson a massive headache.
Consider the situation for a moment and you’ll understand why Johnson has very limited leverage vis-a-vis House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and President Joe Biden. House Republicans are deeply split over their goals and strategy here. Democrats and the White House know what they want. This is always the first rule of legislating — you must know where you want to end up. Nancy Pelosi and Mitch McConnell will tell you this.
In order to prevent a shutdown that Johnson admits wouldn’t “behoove” the nation, he’ll need Jeffries to provide a good deal of the votes. Possibly a majority. Advantage Jeffries.
Even worse, Johnson’s leadership team is quietly warring with each other internally. Johnson publicly said Emmer needs to get the votes for his six-month CR plan. That’s Emmer’s job, of course. Allies to Scalise say Emmer is unable to do so. And Emmer’s allies say that Johnson is pursuing a plan that doesn’t have a chance of succeeding and dumping the responsibility on the whip’s plate.
So much for unity.
One more thing: The Federal Open Market Committee meets starting Tuesday, with an announcement on a possible interest rate cut on Wednesday. The political and economic ramifications of this are huge. Follow The Vault all week for the latest on the Fed’s moves.
— Jake Sherman and John Bresnahan
