A Republican stopgap spending plan tied to a controversial measure to tighten voter registration rules failed Wednesday in the House of Representatives as a government shutdown looms in less than two weeks.
The GOP bill that would have kept the government funded at current levels for six months was poised to fail as about a dozen Republican lawmakers joined nearly all Democrats to shoot it down.
The so-called continuing resolution included an unrelated bill that would require proof of citizenship to register to vote, a measure many Democrats say is aimed at limiting new voters from registering in the weeks leading up to the presidential election.
Some conservative Republicans object to stopgap spending bills on principle while others had complaints about military spending issues.
Congress must pass a new spending bill by Sept. 30 or the government will partially shut down.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, who sent lawmakers home for an extended summer recess, pulled the bill from consideration last week and said he would work over the weekend to build consensus for it within the Republican ranks.
Requiring new voters to provide proof of citizenship has become a leading election-year priority for Republicans.
Former President Trump Wednesday demanded that congressional Republicans should shut down the government if Democrats refuse to include the registration provision. He falsely claimed that “tens of thousands” of undocumented immigrants are planning to vote in the November election.
“If Republicans don’t get … every ounce of it, they should not agree to a Continuing Resolution in any way, shape, or form,” Trump wrote on his social media site.
Democrats counter there is scant evidence of non-citizens voting and the measure would disenfranchise millions of Americans who don’t have easy access to their birth certificate or hold a passport.
Hours before the vote, Johnson refused to discuss an alternative plan to keep the government funded.
Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said the only way to prevent a government shutdown was for both sides to work together and compromise.
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 shorter extension that would allow the current Congress to hammer out a final bill after the election and get it to President Biden’s desk for his signature.
But Johnson wants a six-month extension in the hopes that Trump will win the election and give conservatives more leverage when crafting a full-year spending bill.
