Janice R. Andrews
The House of Representatives voted against Speaker Mike Johnson’s plan to fund the government on Wednesday, in a very important vote. The bill, which had some controversial election security measures, failed by a vote of 202 to 222-2. Fourteen Republicans voted against it, two others were present, and three Democrats voted for it.
Johnson was upset about the result, but he stayed positive that a solution could be found before October 1 to keep the government from shutting down. “We put on the play.” It was the best play; it was the right one,” he said, implying that work would soon begin on a new strategy. He said he would talk to his coworkers about it and keep working on a deal, telling everyone to “stay posted.”
The spending plan would have kept the government running for six months, but it was linked to the SAVE Act, a bill that would make people show proof they are U.S. citizens in order to vote. Democrats were very against the bill, saying that it wasn’t needed since people who aren’t citizens already can’t vote in federal elections.
When former President Donald Trump publicly called for a government shutdown if Republicans did not get the SAVE Act passed, things got even worse. Johnson noted Trump’s impact, but he opposed the idea of shutting down the government over the issue. He stressed that election security is very important, but lawmakers still need to agree on what to do.
Even though Johnson worked hard to get the plan passed, opposition from within his own party eventually stopped it. Some Republicans were against the funding bill because they thought it would make the debt bigger, and defense hawks were worried about how the six-month extension would affect the Department of Defense’s readiness.
There are only a few weeks left until the government shuts down, so Congress needs to pass a spending bill as soon as possible. In a warning, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said that letting the government shut down so close to Election Day would be “politically beyond stupid,” as Republicans could face a lot of criticism.
Democrats have called for a clean short-term spending bill that doesn’t include controversial parts like the SAVE Act. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer are two examples. As early as this week, Schumer told the House that “the worst thing our colleagues in the House can do right now is waste time on proposals that don’t have broad bipartisan support.” He asked them to move forward with a plan that would be supported by both parties.
The date for the shutdown is getting closer, so Speaker Johnson and his colleagues will need to move quickly to find a way to keep the government open and avoid the political and economic problems that would come with it.
