House poised to pass a bill to avert a shutdown after dropping Trump voting plan
The House is poised to pass a bill to avoid a government shutdown after removing a Donald Trump-backed proposal requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote.
WASHINGTON — The House on Wednesday is poised to pass a funding bill to avert a government shutdown next week after it removed a proposal demanded by Donald Trump that would require Americans nationwide to show proof of citizenship to register to vote.
House Republican leaders, facing defections within their ranks, plan to rely heavily on Democratic votes to approve the measure. If it passes, it would go to the Senate, which hopes to quickly approve it Wednesday night, well before the Oct. 1 shutdown deadline. Both chambers are set to adjourn this week for a lengthy recess until after the Nov. 5 election.
The package, negotiated by Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and top Democrats, would fund the government at current levels through Dec. 20, right before the holidays. It would also provide $231 million in additional money for the Secret Service, including for operations related to the presidential campaign, in the wake of two apparent attempts to assassinate Trump.
Trump has publicly insisted that congressional Republicans shut down the government unless they can enact the proof-of-citizenship election legislation, known as the SAVE Act, even though it’s already illegal and rare for noncitizens to vote in federal elections.
But after the House rejected a package that combined government funding and the SAVE Act last week, Johnson stripped out the Trump-backed election legislation and brought the new, mostly clean spending bill to the floor. Defending the move, Johnson and other key Republicans have argued a GOP-led shutdown just 35 days before Election Day would amount to “political malpractice.”
Rating: 5