Capitol Hill loves a good gimmick. On Monday, the House Rules Committee advanced the must-pass National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) with an 8-4 party-line vote. But there is a catch. To appease his restless right flank, Speaker Mike Johnson is trying to weld a controversial voting bill onto the defense package. They call this legislative Frankenstein maneuver “MIRVing.”
It is pure theater. Johnson has no margin for error. His majority is razor-thin. Hard-liners had threatened to tank the whole defense bill unless they got a vote on the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act. So, Johnson gave them a shiny object.
Will it work? Unlikely. Even the true believers are skeptical. Representative Anna Paulina Luna, a vocal Florida Republican who champions the voting bill, took to social media to call out the stunt. She warned that the Senate will simply slice the voting provisions out of the final defense bill. “MIRV ref NDAA won’t work,” she posted. She is probably right.
Democrats are laughing. Or at least, they are trying to stop the circus. Representative Jim McGovern, the top Democrat on the Rules Committee, tried to strip the voting bill merger from the rule. Republicans killed his amendment. McGovern did not hold back, calling the maneuver a “shell game” designed to peddle false hope. The Senate, he warned, will gut the voting language immediately.
The drama peaks Tuesday. That is when the full House votes on the rule. The package also bundles in funding for national security, the State Department, and a symbolic resolution celebrating the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.” It is a massive, messy pile of leverage. Whether Johnson can hold his fragile coalition together remains to be seen.
