WASHINGTON — Congress is slowly approaching another month-end government shutdown deadline with no clear plan to pass a bipartisan stopgap spending bill — and with some up-to-date interference from the Republican presidential candidate.
House Republicans have so far acted on their own, scheduling a vote on the midterm resolution for Wednesday even though the bill failed to get enough votes to pass both chambers.
President Joe Biden has also threatened to veto the bill, which ensures it will not become law.
Meanwhile, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Tuesday tried to inflame the situation by calling on his party to force a government shutdown if Democrats do not accept the GOP’s inclusion of a separate bill that would require people to show an ID to register to vote.
“Unless Republicans in the House and Senate receive absolute assurances regarding election security, THEY SHOULD NOT PASS A BUDGET CONTINUATION RESOLUTION IN ANY WAY, SHAPE OR FORM,” Trump wrote on social media.
The leaders of the Republican Party in the House of Representatives have a bill requiring proof of citizenship has been included register to vote in federal elections in their stopgap spending bill. It is already illegal for noncitizens to vote in federal elections.
The original draft of the Voting Act, HR8281, was first introduced by Texas Republican Representative Chip Roy, a member of the far-right House Freedom Caucus. passed 221-198 In July, five Democrats voted with Republicans, but it stalled in the Senate.
The White House rejected the proposal in an administration policy statement released earlier this week, writing that “unrelated cynical legislation… will do nothing to secure our elections but will make it much more difficult for all eligible Americans to register to vote and increase the risk that eligible voters will be purged from the voter rolls.”
Congress must pass some spending bill before the end of the month to avoid a partial government shutdown that comes just weeks before the November election.
Senators react
During a news conference Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer urged congressional leaders to come together and negotiate a bipartisan deal.
“The bottom line is we want bipartisan negotiations,” Schumer said. “We’re going to sit down and have bipartisan negotiations, and that’s the only way to get this through.”
Schumer placed the responsibility for calling the meeting on Mike Johnson, Speaker of the House of Representatives, a Republican from Louisiana.
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said during a separate news conference that he would reserve judgment on the House’s stopgap budget bill until he sees whether it actually passes the chamber.
“I think we first have to see what the House sends us, and then, of course, how we handle that will be up to the majority leader,” the Kentucky Republican said. “But the first step should be what comes out of the House. And I think right now we don’t know.”
McConnell said there should be no government shutdown under any circumstances, clearly rejecting Trump’s calls for one.
“Shutting down the government is always a bad idea,” he said.
Thune cites the military’s predictability
Senator John Thune, a Republican from South Dakota, criticized the House Republicans’ midterm budget bill, which is likely to delay negotiations on more than a dozen bills to fund the government each year until early next year.
This could have a negative impact on the process of vetting, hearing and voting on the next president’s Cabinet nominees in the Senate in the first few months of the up-to-date year.
“I think that’s a very fair point about what could happen next year. I think that’s something that everyone should take into account when deciding how long CR should be,” Thune said.
Thune also cited the negative impact on the Department of Defense and combat readiness of an extended period of time in the budget bill as a stopgap measure.
“When we fund the government, we should do it in a way that provides predictability and certainty, especially for our military planners,” Thune said. “So I think that’s an argument for a shorter period of time and trying to fix these problems before the new Congress comes in in January.”
But he added that Senate Republican leaders plan to take into account the views of those who favor a longer, six-month spending period proposed by House Republicans.
“There are some who think that putting this off until next year is a good strategy,” Thune said. “We’ll hear from everyone over the next few days and then, depending on what the House sends, what Schumer decides to do with it, we’ll determine how to respond.”
Ariana Figueroa assisted in the preparation of this report.
