WASHINGTON – The House of Representatives plans to vote this week a three-month interim funding bill as the clock ticks down and Donald Trump He’s putting pressure on Republicans to shut down the government without policy concessions they have no real chance of achieving.
Defying Trump, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., struck a deal with the White House and top Democrats on Sunday to keep the government funded until Dec. 20, but it was scrapped. provision required by ex-president It will revise the electoral law across the country requirese proof of citizenship to vote.
As the House adjourned for the week on Friday, Johnson declined to say whether he would be okay with moving a package without the citizenship ballot component known as Trump’s SAVE Act, which he regularly consults during the funding fight. Trump and Johnson met for three hours last week at Mar-a-Lago Second assassination attempt on Trumpand they met again in Washington on Thursday.
“I’ve had many conversations with President Trump,” Johnson told reporters. “I won’t reveal all of it, but he understands the situation we’re in. He is determined to ensure that election security remains a top priority, and so am I, which is why I introduced the SAVE Act. CR.”
If Congress fails to pass a short-term funding bill known as a continuing resolution, or CR, the federal government will shut down at 12:01 a.m. on Oct. 1. Both President Joe Biden and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., expressed support for the CR released Sunday and urged the House to quickly pass it.
“If both parties continue to work in good faith, I am hopeful that we will be able to conclude the work on the CR well before this week, September 30,” Schumer said in a statement on Sunday. This is the key to getting our work done this week. There will be bilateral cooperation in both chambers.”
Last week, 14 Republicans joined almost all Democrats in the House torpedo the six-month finance bill It also included the SAVE Act. This embarrassing setback for Republicans allowed bipartisan House and Senate negotiators to begin crafting a “clean” CR with no controversial provisions.
Johnson on Sunday unveiled the text of a new CR that would keep the government open until Dec. 20, avoid Congressional elections and give members more time to hammer out a longer-term fiscal deal for fiscal year 2025. holidays.
The House plans to take up the CR by mid-week. Although it does not include the SAVE Act, the short-term bill contains $231 million in additional funds. Secret Service After the last apparent attempt on Trump’s life on September 15.
Johnson and other GOP leaders are asking their party not to allow a shutdown just five weeks before Election Day, unprecedented in modern times. Swing district Republicans say that would be a terrible move because their party could be blamed by voters.
“In my opinion, a government shutdown even after an election is galactic stupidity. It’s even worse before the election. If we do it right before the election, we could burn ourselves out as a party,” said R-Calif., who represents one of several dozen competitive districts that could decide the House majority. Rap Mike Garcia. “That’s why we shouldn’t shut down the government.”
Asked if Trump was making it harder to prevent a shutdown, Garcia said that was up to Johnson.
“The dynamic of it all is between him and the speaker,” he said. “And the speaker must call his own game.”
Facing a competitive race, R-Neb. Rep. Don Bacon said: “A government shutdown is bad policy, bad management.”
Johnson’s CR must pass the House with support from a large number of Republicans and Democrats. But there is still a group of conservatives who voted no.
“If it’s a clean CR for a lame duck, I’m not going to support it,” said Byron Donalds, R-Fla., a Trump ally and member of the far-right Freedom Caucus. “This must be done next year so that the next president and his team can figure out how to manage the nation’s finances going forward.”
Schumer, the Democratic leader of the Senate, took steps to vote on a government funding bill last week, preparing the upper chamber for work in case Republicans in the House re-ignite.
“Unfortunately, time is not a luxury in Congress right now,” Schumer said on the floor Thursday. “And instead of doing the bipartisan work that everyone knows is needed to prevent a shutdown, House Republican leadership wasted two weeks — two weeks — listening. Donald Trump’s crazy campaign claims.”
But on Sunday, Schumer sounded more optimistic, telling reporters he had sat down with Johnson “over the last four days” and believed they were “closer to an agreement.”
“We actually have some good news now, we have a really good chance of avoiding a government shutdown,” he said.
Some Republicans have urged the House to act quickly, worried that the funding bill passed by the Democratic-led Senate could be burdened with extraneous spending.
In the House, Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, said, “We’re afraid that if it comes up in the Senate, it’s going to have a lot of stuff on it, it’s going to be very expensive and difficult to pass.” Appropriations Committee “cardinal,” who heads one of the subcommittees of the government-sponsored panel.
If Congress can pass a new House CR before October 1, they face another shutdown fight in December. Advocates of the new Dec. 20 date hope that its proximity to Christmas and Congress’ last business day of the year will encourage members to work quickly across party lines.