Tennessee U.S. Representative Diana Harshbarger (R-TN-01) said she still has faith in U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA-04) after House Republicans failed to band together and pass a continuing resolution tied to the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act and instead opted for a continuing resolution without the SAVE Act.
While Harshbarger previously said she would be in favor of the government shutting down if the U.S. Senate refused to pass a continuing resolution with the SAVE Act, House Republicans last week did not work together to ensure the passage of the temporary spending bill tied to the SAVE Act.
After the continuing resolution failed to pass, Speaker Johnson announced that the House would be moving forward with a continuing resolution not attached to the SAVE Act to fund the government until December 20, saying that a government shutdown just before the presidential election would be “political malpractice.”
That continuing resolution passed the U.S. House by a 341-82 vote on Wednesday, which Harshbarger, a member of the House Freedom Caucus, voted in favor of.
Johnson also promised that the House would not pass a “Christmas omnibus” spending package.
Harshbarger said she still has faith in Johnson and will take him at his word regarding not passing a Christmas omnibus in December when funding for the government – given Wednesday’s passage of the spending package passes the Senate and is approved by President Joe Biden – runs out.
“[Speaker Johnson] is a good man and he will do what’s best. He’s a prayerful man and I don’t think there’s any decision he makes without seeking counsel. Let me put it that way,” Harshbarger explained on The John Fredericks Show.
“He promised he wouldn’t do an omnibus, so I have to take the man at his word…We will see in December. I’ve given Mike that chance to show me he’s not going to do that, and he’s going to stand firm,” Harshbarger added. “I want Mike to be successful. That’s the bottom line. When he’s successful, our country’s successful.”
Harshbarger admitted that shutting down the government just weeks before the November 5 general election would put some Republicans running for election or reelection at risk of losing their races, which would jeopardize the party’s projected chances to strengthen its majority in the House and retake the Senate.
“When you look at some of the polling, and this was internal polling I think done by the same pollster that President Trump uses, the possibility of losing 17 seats would be a real concern. It could actually happen if the government shut down,” Harshbarger said.
Harshbarger also said the continuing resolution passed by the House on Wednesday is “clean” and does not increase spending.
“This is just a clean [continuing resolution] through December 20 with extra funding for the Secret Service. That’s it. And that way, the military is paid, you can still get social security, the government’s not shut down, and the spending isn’t increased,” Harshbarger said.
Watch the full interview:
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Photo “Rep Diana Harshbarger” by Rep Diana Harshbarger and “US Capitol” is by David Maiolo CC3.0.
