President Johnson Pushes Plan to Fund War with Iran and Promote Trump’s ‘SAVE America Act’ & more related news here

The House of Representatives on Wednesday took the first step to fund President Donald Trump’s war against Iran, in addition to approving tens of billions in additional money from the Pentagon and aid for American farmers.

The plan also includes money for state election grants aimed at promoting Trump’s “SAVE America Act.”

But with slim margins and growing angst ahead of the midterms, even top Republicans don’t know what will happen next.

The House formally adopted the blueprint for Trump’s funding plan, known as a budget resolution, in a close vote Wednesday. President Mike Johnson pushed the plan despite dismay from several sides of his conference: Some moderates still want more information on Pentagon spending, while fiscal hawks are angry that the package will apply to the nation’s credit card. The vote was 216-214.

And huge details are still missing: The House voted only on a blueprint for the plan, not on actual legislation, which will be extremely difficult for Republican leaders to draft.

The fate of the House budget proposal is uncertain in the Senate. Johnson and House Republicans need the full cooperation of the Senate to get the money to the finish line without help from Democrats through a complex process known as “reconciliation.”

It is still unclear whether elements of the bill to advance the “SAVE America Act” would be approved by the Senate’s nonpartisan arbiter known as the parliamentarian. The election reform bill does not have the votes to overcome the Senate’s 60-vote threshold, one reason some Republicans hoped to use the party-line process known as reconciliation to advance the measure while Trump continues to call for its passage.

The problem is multiple in the Senate. Republican leaders are reluctant to use their special prosecutorial powers to advance any legislation – much less money for an unpopular war – so close to the November elections. That’s because Democrats can force an unlimited number of votes on politically painful amendments on the issue when a Senate budget comes to the floor through reconciliation, in what’s known as a vote en rama.

Meanwhile, the Pentagon has told lawmakers that their needs are becoming more urgent. Key GOP lawmakers have said the money is needed before the August recess, something that almost certainly won’t happen as the House begins that recess on Thursday.