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House Speaker Mike Johnson is set to advance a temporary spending bill to prevent a partial government shutdown when the new fiscal year begins on October 1. He is moving forward despite the challenges that caused him to withdraw the bill from consideration last week.
The bill mandates that individuals registering to vote must provide proof of citizenship, a top election-year priority for Republicans who warn about the possibility of noncitizens voting in the U.S., The Associated Press noted.
“I urge all of my colleagues to do what the overwhelming majority of the people of this country rightfully demand and deserve — prevent non-American citizens from voting in American elections,” Johnson said on Tuesday.
The Speaker told reporters he wasn’t ready to discuss any other plan to keep the government funded other than what will come up for a vote on Wednesday. “I’m not having any alternative conversations. That’s the play. It’s an important one. And I’m going to work around the clock to try and get it done,” he said, the AP reported.
Meanwhile, Democratic leaders have already said they were opposed to the measure, continuing their opposition to election integrity measures that the vast majority of Americans, on the right and left, support, according to several recent polls.
“The only thing that will accomplish is make clear that he’s running into a dead end,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said. “We must have a bipartisan plan instead.”
The AP added: “The legislation would fund agencies at current levels while lawmakers work out their differences on a full-year spending agreement. Democrats, and some Republicans, are pushing for a short extension. A temporary fix would allow the current Congress to hammer out a final bill after the election and get it to President Joe Biden’s desk for his signature.”
However, Johnson and several of the more conservative members of his conference are advocating for a six-month extension, hoping that Republican nominee Donald Trump will win the election and provide them with greater leverage when developing the full-year bill, the AP noted.
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell opted not to comment on the length of the funding extension. He stated that ultimately, Schumer and Johnson will need to negotiate a final agreement that can gain approval in both chambers.
Earlier this month, Johnson, at the urging of former President Donald Trump and conservative Republicans, began considering adding a major immigration enforcement legislation called the SAVE Act to a must-pass spending bill just weeks ahead of the November election.
According to Punchbowl News, “The speaker is getting pressure from hardline conservatives and former President Donald Trump to attach the SAVE Act to the CR [continuing resolution] even if it threatens a shutdown.” In addition, the news service added that congressional conservatives are angling for a CR “until next year in hopes that Trump will be back in office.”
Jake Sherman of Punchbowl reported via the X platform that the CR would extend beyond Election Day on Nov. 5 through March 2025.
Trump, meanwhile, discussed the SAVE Act, out-of-control illegal immigration under Vice President Kamala Harris’ watch, and his desire to see the government shut down over the issue if need be in an interview with former Fox News host Monica Crowley’s podcast.
“Mr. President—election integrity and the Harris no-borders policy. It’s not open borders, it’s no borders, which, of course, now she’s trying to run away from. You support the SAVE Act, which would block non-citizens from voting in this election and in the future. Do you support adding the SAVE Act to the spending bill that Congress is going to take up next month in September to try to get it into law before this election?” Crowley, who served as the Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs for the U.S. Department of the Treasury during Trump’s administration, asked.
“Absolutely. And I think you should also change your elections to paper ballots,” Trump responded. “I think you should get a lot of things for that. That’s a big deal. When they extend that bill, they’ll extend it again and again. The Republicans ought to try and get some things for a change—the House and the Senate—they ought to go for getting things. They don’t get anything. They extend everything. Then it comes due.
