House rejects Speaker Johnson's government funding bill as shutdown deadline nears
Sept. 18 (UPI) -- The U.S. House, including 14 Republicans, voted down a six-month GOP government funding plan Wednesday, as Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., tries to avert a shutdown at the end of the month.
The House voted 202 to 220 to defeat the stopgap bill that also included the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, supported by Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, that would require proof of citizenship to vote.
At a press briefing after the vote, Johnson said he was "very disappointed."
"The play that we ran tonight was the right play. It's the right fight for the American people," Johnson told reporters.
"We have two very important objectives right now. Congress has an obligation to fund the government. And Congress has an obligation to ensure that our elections are secure and fair and free. This vote tonight would have accomplished both," Johnson said.
Republicans, who voted against Wednesday's short-term funding bill, blasted the use of the continuing resolution as two other GOP members voted present and three Democrats voted for it.
The SAVE Act would target illegal voting in the United States, including voter registration in states where driver's licenses or state-issued identification cards are provided without verifying citizenship status. It would also threaten jail time for election workers who enroll non-citizens.
"If Republicans don't get the SAVE Act, and every ounce of it, they should not agree to a Continuing Resolution in any way, shape or form," Trump warned Wednesday ahead of the vote in a post on Truth Social.
"Democrats are registering illegal voters by the tens of thousands, as we speak. They will be voting in the 2024 presidential election, and they shouldn't be allowed to," Trump claimed.
While current law requires U.S. citizenship for voting, "right now we have no mechanism for the states to require proof of citizenship before they register to vote," Johnson said. "That is a serious problem."
Despite efforts to pass the SAVE Act in both the House and the Senate, President Joe Biden has vowed to veto the measure.
"I want to note that every Democrat, except three, went on record once again for the second time voting against election security," Johnson said Wednesday night.
Despite the ongoing debate over the SAVE Act, a number of lawmakers are demanding a "clean" government funding extension without voting provisions, and are worried about a possible government shutdown right before the election.
"In order to avoid a shutdown, the worst thing our colleagues in the House can do right now is waste time on proposals that don't have broad bipartisan support," warned Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.
Johnson, who plans to start working on a new plan to fund the government before the Oct. 1 deadline, told reporters "We have time to fix the situation and we'll get right to it."
