Mike Johnson

WASHINGTON – After three weeks of legislative paralysis that required Congress to go home early for the July 4th holiday, House Speaker Mike Johnson was finally able Tuesday to narrowly pass legislation that included the partisan voter restrictions demanded by President Donald Trump and making Daylight Saving Time permanent.

But the legislation faces a tougher path in the Senate, largely because of the sudden death of prominent Republican U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and the illness of Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. Republicans hold a 53-47 majority.

U.S. Sen. John Kennedy, R-Madisonville, told The Hill, a political trade publication, that the Republican agenda in the Senate seems stalled.

“The next four weeks are going to look like the happy hour at an airport Chili’s,” Kennedy said.

Much of the legislative constipation came about because Trump refused to sign bills into law until Congress approved one that would tighten the use of mail-in ballots, require proof of citizenship when registering to vote, and show a photo ID when casting ballots. Called the SAVE America Act, the legislation doesn’t have the votes in the Senate to pass on its own.

And the House still has plenty left on its plate.

“We have a lot of work still to do,” said House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-Jefferson, told reporters prior to the vote on the House bill. “You're going to see this week the budget committee move the beginnings of reconciliation 3.0 out of committee. And we're moving more bills through the floor this week, another appropriations bill.”

Political gridlock

Before the July 4 holiday break, Trump had refused to sign a bill that authorizes spy agencies to gather information about foreign nationals and another giving incentives to build more homes and lower housing costs for consumers. House leadership pulled bills from scheduled floor votes for three weeks because conservative factions leveraged the narrow GOP majority on procedural votes to stall consideration by the full House.

Johnson sent the House home early because nothing was getting passed.

Democrats have continuously blasted Republicans over the gridlock.

“As we reconvene this week, one thing remains incredibly clear to us,” said Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-California, and chair of the House Democratic Caucus. "The Republican conference remains deeply divided. ...And Republicans have not put forward a single bill to make life more affordable. Unfortunately, this level of chaos and dysfunction has become a hallmark of Republican leadership.”

But, on their first full day back from the two-week vacation, the House voted 215 to 211 —all Republicans but one except one voting ‘yes’ — to approve legislation that included wording from four bills: Daylight Saving Time, banning codes that track guns, additional medical benefits for veterans, and State Department funding that includes the wording that Trump and his allies say is necessary to address alleged election fraud.

Conservatives leveraged the narrow Republican majority on procedural votes to stall full House consideration until their points were included. With 217 Republicans and one independent making up the 218 members needed to form a majority, Johnson can’t lose three GOP votes in order to pass a bill without Democratic votes.

Johnson, Scalise work feverishly

Johnson said he got only a few hours of sleep since the holiday, working almost nonstop to cobble together plans that would get the Republican support necessary to pass legislation with only Republicans votes,

Johnson, Scalise, and House leadership turned to a rules procedure with a military term.

Named for the acronym of “multiple-warhead missile,” the MIRV procedural rule puts unrelated bills into a single legislative package to send to the Senate. Johnson suggested that “a lot of MIRVs” are on the way.

The Senate, however, on Tuesday evening voted against a motion to proceed to the $1.15 trillion annual defense authorization bill, called NDAA. The motion to advance the annual defense bill failed by a vote of 50 to 46. It needed 60 votes to succeed.

Without Graham and Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, who has been in the hospital and unable to vote, the Senate is now 51 Republicans and 47 Democrats.

Usually, the must-pass bill receives strong bipartisan support.

South Carolina’s governor tapped Graham’s sister, Darline Graham, to fill out the five remaining months of his term. She was sworn in as a senator Tuesday afternoon.

Graham also chaired the Senate Budget Committee, which put him at the tip of the spear to get a resolution through the parliamentary maneuver, called reconciliation, that would allow passage with a simple majority.

Several Republican and all Democratic senators rejected a reconciliation resolution that included additional money for the military action in Iran, largely because of opposition to enacting the SAVE America Act, the language of which was merged into instrument.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-South Dakota, said Monday the votes for voting restrictions just weren’t there. He will be focusing on getting Trump’s nominees confirmed.

“We’re not going to have a lot of time to get things if it has to go through both chambers, but the appointments (confirmation of presidential nominees) are what I’m most comfortable with because that only has to go through the Senate,” said Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge. “There are a lot of things we have to get done before the August recess. “

“The House leaves July 23rd,” Cassidy noted.