Vice President JD Vance told House Republicans hours ahead of an expected vote on a seven-month funding patch on Tuesday that Republicans will take the blame for a government shutdown if they don’t pass the legislation, according to three people who were in the room for the comments.
Vance emphasized that Republicans had little room for dissent given the tight margin in the House. Government funding is set to expire at midnight Friday, and a handful of GOP members have yet to commit to the stopgap put forward by Speaker Mike Johnson and endorsed by President Donald Trump.
“We already lost one vote, we can’t lose another,” Vance said, according to the people, who were granted anonymity to describe a private meeting. That one vote belongs to Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), who has said he is firmly against the plan.
Vance told House Republicans they need to vote for the GOP funding bill to clear the runway for the massive domestic policy bill Republicans are now in the process of assembling, the people added. By failing to pass the stopgap, Vance added, Republicans will lose momentum on securing the border and lose credibility with voters.
He also assured Republican members that Trump would continue cutting federal funding with his Department of Government Efficiency initiative and pursue impoundment — that is, holding back money appropriated by Congress.
Johnson said in a brief interview leaving the meeting that Vance’s message was “very well-received” but added that he thinks most GOP members have already made their decisions.
Asked about the planned 4 p.m. vote, Johnson said he believes there’s only “one or two” true holdouts left.
