The US House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on a government funding bill on Wednesday, but with less than two weeks left to avert a partial government shutdown that would begin on October 1, the bill is destined for failure.
Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson announced Tuesday that the House would move forward with the vote despite vocal opposition from his own lawmakers. The announcement came a week after opponents were forced to postpone a vote on the bill, and the speaker has faced further resistance since then.
Johnson’s proposed bill combines a six-month stopgap funding measure known as a continuing resolution with the Protect American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, a controversial proposal that would require people to show proof of citizenship when registering to vote.
“Congress has an obligation to do two things immediately: fund the federal government responsibly and ensure election security,” Johnson said Tuesday. “I urge all of my colleagues to do what the overwhelming majority of people in this county rightly demand and deserve: prevent non-U.S. citizens from voting in U.S. elections.”
Critics of the SAVE Act worry that it is already illegal for foreign nationals to vote and that such a law would prevent legitimate voters from casting their ballots. House Democrats remain overwhelmingly opposed to the proposal, with only a minority expected to support Johnson’s bill on Wednesday.
Given Republicans’ slim majority in the House and broad Democratic opposition to the bill, Johnson will likely only tolerate a few defections during Wednesday’s party meeting, but many hard-right Republicans, who reject any continuing resolutions amid their push for further budget cuts, have already signaled they will vote against the bill.
Hard-right Republicans fear that if Wednesday’s vote fails, Johnson will turn to passing a more straightforward continuing resolution without the Save Act, but the speaker has denied those concerns.
“I’m not in discussions about alternatives,” Johnson told reporters on Tuesday. “And that’s what’s important. I’m going to work around the clock to get this done.”
Far-right Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia denounced Johnson’s tactic as “a classic bait-and-switch tactic to infuriate his supporters.”
“Johnson is leading a fake fight that he has no intention of actually fighting,” Greene said Tuesday on The X. “I’m not going to lie to anyone that this plan will work, but it has already failed (on arrival) this week. Speaker Johnson will need to rely on the Democrats he’s been working with all this time to gather the votes he needs to get what he’s already planned to do.”
Donald Trump, who has defended unfounded claims of widespread foreign voting, has stepped up pressure on Johnson, arguing that the House of Representatives should only approve government funding bills if they relate to “election security” measures.
“Unless Republicans in the House and Senate can get absolute assurances about the security of our elections, they should not move forward with a continuing budget resolution of any kind,” Trump wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social, last week.
But even if Johnson can get the bill through the House, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-Calif., has made it clear that the bill has no chance of passing the Senate. Speaking on the floor on Tuesday, Schumer reiterated that only a “bipartisan plan” can get to Joe Biden’s desk in time to avoid a government shutdown next month.
“The speaker’s (continuing resolution) is simply too unworkable,” Schumer said. “I ask the speaker to abandon his current plan and work with other leaders, with (Senate Minority Leader Mitch) McConnell, with (House Minority Leader Hakeem) Jeffries, with myself, with the White House, to reach a bipartisan agreement. We just can’t afford it.”
At a press conference on Tuesday, McConnell issued a stern warning to House Republicans that a government shutdown so close to Election Day would jeopardize the party’s standing with voters and risk losing seats.
“The one thing we can’t have is a government shutdown,” McConnell said. “It would be politically foolish for us to do that.”