Vice President JD Vance made a last-minute personal appeal to House Republicans on Tuesday only hours before a scheduled vote to prevent a government shutdown.
Vance joined the weekly House Republican Conference meeting in the U.S. Capitol basement Tuesday morning at 9:00 a.m. EST. The House is scheduled to vote around 1:30 p.m. on the rule to allow a continuing resolution (CR) to advance to the floor later in the afternoon.
The CR will extend current funding levels – with some modifications, including almost $500 million in additional funds to Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) – until the end of the current fiscal year September 30.
The meeting room, around dark corners and down unadorned corridors in the unfinished House side of the Capitol basement, is a far cry from vice presidential and senatorial settings. Cloistered from throngs of reporters waiting outside, Vance made a straightforward pitch that President Trump supports the CR, and he’ll be watching the vote closely.
Vance’s personal attendance was more of a last-minute indication of the Trump administration’s seriousness about the CR than a substantive policy debate.
Most of the heavy lifting is already complete. Trump and Vance personally have been working Republicans in person and on the phone. And Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) worked the phones with reluctant members until late Monday evening, Breitbart News has learned.
The margins are not in Republicans’ favor.
With 218 Republicans and 214 Democrats, Republicans can only lose one vote, given full attendance.
But that one nay vote is accounted for. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) has made clear he will oppose the CR, earning a Trump Truth Social post Monday night calling for a primary challenge to the libertarian-learning Republican.
Despite the challenges, multiple Republican sources expressed confidence to Breitbart News.
Democrat attendance issues over the past several weeks might give Trump and Johnson an additional one or two-vote cushion. With the outcome coming down to the wire, every vote will count.
And despite public statements, sources with insights into members’ thinking reveal that some Republicans who have not yet supported the CR as of Tuesday morning plan to back the bill.
Additionally, with two votes necessary to send the CR to the House, members who oppose the CR may have a path to express their disapproval in the process or contents of the CR without tanking it.
The first procedural vote is on the rule, which will allow the vote on the underlying CR to advance. Except on the rarest occasions, the minority party opposes rule votes. Therefore Johnson almost assuredly must pass the rule with only Republicans.
But a handful of Republicans could support the rule while opposing the subsequent vote on the CR itself. And although no Democrats are likely to support the rule, a number of moderates might defect and support the CR to prevent a shutdown.
In that scenario, the rule could pass along party lines, then the CR could pass with minimal Republican defections with the help of a number of Democrats.
Although not ideal for Johnson, with the numbers as tight as they are, he’ll take the victory any way he can get it.
If the CR passes the House, with Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) opposing it, at least eight Senate Democrats would need to support advancing the bill.
The deadline is Friday.
Bradley Jaye is Deputy Political Editor for Breitbart News. Follow him on X/Twitter and Instagram @BradleyAJaye
