House Republicans move toward reopening U.S. government

House Speaker Mike Johnson said he’s optimistic the three-day partial shutdown of much of the U.S. government is nearing an end.

Johnson told reporters Tuesday morning he has the votes for a key procedural vote to reopen the parts of the government, which has been shuttered since Saturday morning.

Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries has told Johnson that Democrats will not help Republicans advance the procedure under which the government funding vote will happen, requiring Johnson to work within his own razor-thin majority to fund the government. After a new Democratic lawmaker was sworn in Monday, Johnson can only afford to lose one Republican vote on any party-line measure.

“We’re gonna pass the rule today, it was never in doubt to me,” Johnson said in a press conference Tuesday morning. “We’re governing responsibly and we’re getting the job done.”

Johnson spent most of Monday trying to work through rebellions in his party against ending the shutdown. Among them were conservative lawmakers demanding a vote on a controversial voter-ID bill known as the SAVE Act.

The bill would fully fund the departments of Defense, Treasury, State, Health and Human Services, Labor, Housing and Urban Development, Transportation and Education through the remainder of the fiscal year on Sept. 30. Democrats in the Senate had the Department of Homeland Security funding stripped and replaced with a two-week stopgap after two U.S. citizens were shot and killed by federal immigration officers.

A negotiation is now underway on new guardrails for immigration enforcement in the bill to fund DHS.

This story is developing. Please check back for updates.