For House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), the nicest part about the Fourth of July was that the fireworks were on the National Mall and not in his chamber. After a tense couple of weeks of infighting, GOP leaders finally pulled the plug and sent members home early, leaving a shrinking window of opportunity to get anything meaningful done before the long August recess.

Johnson, who’s been a legislative Houdini when it comes to getting out of impossible situations, has his hands full after more than a dozen Republicans brought the House to a screeching halt, refusing to move several pieces of legislation — including the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) — that were on the verge of final votes because the Senate hasn’t passed election reforms demanding proof of citizenship and voter ID. “We have the smallest margin in U.S. history,” the Louisianan acknowledged after the mutiny. “People get very emotional about things, and sometimes they make irrational decisions.”

But the conservatives’ frustration over the party’s inability to move the SAVE America Act has put the speaker and his Senate counterpart, Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.), in a legitimate bind, experts warn. With just eight legislative days on the calendar until Congress’s summer break, the backlog of work is at a breaking point. Already, the revolt on the House floor forced leaders to scrap their plans to move forward with the NDAA and other key items of their to-do list.

“I think we have squandered away an opportunity to do something great for the Fourth of July,” Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Texas) lamented when the troop bill became a casualty of the hardline conservatives’ uprising. “The American people gave us Donald Trump and a unified Congress, right?” he said. “We have both chambers, and … we’re squandering time away,” he warned. “We ain’t going to be able to get it back.”

By Wednesday, key members were hunkered down in the speaker’s office, hashing out ways to end the stalemate. The only way to get elements of the SAVE America Act through the Senate without Democrats’ help is reconciliation, but, as Rep. August Pfluger (R-Texas) noted, that’s a tricky process and time is short. “After this recess, if it doesn’t happen in the first couple of days, then I think it’s in real trouble,” he acknowledged. Budget Chairman Jodey Arrington (R-Texas) agreed. “The closer we get to November, the more difficult it is.” But, he added, “I’m not ready to say we can’t do it.”

Of course, there are other reasons to pursue reconciliation — including the billions of dollars the president is requesting for the Iran war. “Safeguarding elections, along with stopping fraud and supporting our troops and dealing with the residual unaffordability that has hung over from the Biden administration’s failed policies, are all wrapped up in a Reconciliation 3.0,” Arrington stressed.

The sticky part about including elements of the SAVE America Act is that reconciliation is a budgetary tool, so the GOP will have to find a way to thread that needle. Johnson thinks Republicans have found a way to address part of that problem by creating a grant program that incentivizes states to adopt stricter election rules. “[I]f they come to their senses, and they want to avail themselves of election integrity proposals and ideas and policies, they can draw down from a federal fund and use those funds,” he explained. “We’re willing to invest heavily in that.”

Arrington thinks the carrot approach might actually work for blue states that refuse to require things like proof of citizenship and voter ID. “I haven’t seen many Democrats [who] didn’t jump when you dangled some money in front of them. So there is the hope that if you put some incentive money, states led by Democrats might just engage in implementing these safeguards. But if they don’t, it will be just another way to delineate what Democrats stand for and what Republicans want to try to do to make this country safer, stronger, and more prosperous.”

The package of election reforms continues to be a massive sticking point for Trump, who not only refused to sign a bipartisan housing affordability bill that passed both chambers but also held up significant nominations in protest. He even mentioned the legislation during his late-night keynote address at the celebration on July 4. “America is back, and we want to keep America great,” Trump insisted. “And we will do so by approving the SAVE America Act, which means all voters must show voter ID. All voters must provide a little thing called proof of citizenship. And there will be no mail-in ballots except for illness, disability, military deployment, or travel.”

It’s an ambitious play — but given the state of the GOP’s margins, the only one. No matter which path leadership takes, a lot hangs in the balance. At the end of the day, Johnson emphasizes, the SAVE America Act is a top priority for every Republican. “We passed it three times in the House. We’re going to try one more time on a budget reconciliation bill.”

The genius of Johnson’s speakership has been resolving his party’s (often volatile) differences. “I’ve got to work with all of them,” he told Family Research Council President Tony Perkins on Saturday’s “This Week on Capitol Hill,” “get them all together. …But these are high stakes,” the Louisianan admitted. Not only did a dozen of his members stall one of the most important bills of the year in the NDAA, but they also sabotaged the limited time the House has left to accomplish things. “We’ve got to keep the engine moving here,” the speaker emphasized. “So when we bring them back after this short break for July 4th, we’ll get right back to it,” he vowed. “I’ll get them on board. We’ll move it forward.”

The party’s struggles, Johnson downplayed, are typical. “Just another day here.”