Congress faces another government shutdown deadline
Politicians funding measure would include non citizen to vote act that Democrats say makes it a nonstarter. Democrats blasted the inclusion of the voting legislation on the spending measure, calling it an attempt to boost former President Donald Trump’s anti-immigration talking points ahead of November’s election. They also pointed out that it is already illegal for noncitizens to vote in federal elections.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Patty Murphy, the chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, released a joint statement saying the government funding bill will be a nonstarter in their chamber if the voter registration language is attached.
“As we have said repeatedly, avoiding a government shutdown requires bipartisanship, not a bill drawn up by one party,” Schumer and Murphy wrote. “Speaker Johnson is making the same mistake as former Speaker (Kevin) McCarthy did a year ago, by wasting precious time catering to the hard MAGA right.”
The House could vote as soon as Wednesday on Johnson’s proposal.
With few Democrats in the House likely to support Johnson’s stopgap in its current format, he will have to rely on House Republicans’ thin majority to pass it. It is unclear whether Johnson has the votes because some swing district GOP lawmakers may be hesitant to take a vote on the SAVE Act and some hard-liners say they will not vote for a continuing resolution under any circumstances.
The Senate will push for a version that addresses government funding alone without inclusion of the SAVE Act. If a bill is not sent to President Joe Biden before Oct. 1, a partial government shutdown would commence.
A similar fight over government funding last year led to the ouster of McCarthy as speaker. While Johnson’s speakership appears more secure, House Republicans have shouldered most of the blame from voters for intraparty dysfunction leading to multiple threats of government shutdowns in recent months.
U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter told “Politically Georgia” last week that the repeated threats of government shutdowns have taken their toll, as continuing resolutions become the tool used to keep the government funded in the absence of long-term spending bills.
“I mean, it’s the same song, second verse, third verse,” the St. Simons Island Republican said.
