Exclusive: Republican Rep. Chip Roy of Texas said Tuesday he believes American voters value election security more than a potential government shutdown.
“My constituents [honest elections]”They want a secure border, but they don't really care about government funding,” Roy said in an interview with Fox News Digital.
Lawmakers return to Washington, D.C., from their summer recess next week, with just three weeks to find an agreement to avert a partial government shutdown before October 1.
Harris was “positive” about adding seats to the Supreme Court during the 2019 presidential election.
Congressman Chip Roy (Getty Images)
A short-term funding extension, known as a continuing resolution (CR), will almost certainly be needed to give negotiators more time to hammer out spending priorities for fiscal year 2025.
Roy and other conservative rebels in the House have been lobbying House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, to pair the CR with the Protecting American Voter Eligibility Act (SAVE Act), a bill that would require proof of citizenship to register to vote.
But the SAVE Act is viewed as unworkable by the White House and Senate Democrats, both of whom are wary of the prospect of a partial government shutdown just weeks before Election Day.
Roy declined to say whether he supported a government shutdown, but told Fox News Digital that the blame lies with Democrats, not Republicans.
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House Speaker Mike Johnson has been lobbied by conservatives over the plan. (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)
“I'm not going to play the government shutdown game… The media wants to cover the government shutdown. Democrats want to cover the government shutdown,” Roy said. “Our argument is pretty simple: We're offering to fund the government, which, by the way, is guilty of all sorts of things. We're happy to do that. But these people need to make sure our elections are secure.”
“if [Democrats] If they want to shut down the government, that's on them.”
Two sources told Fox News Digital on Tuesday that combining the bill with a CR through March is at least one plan House Republican leadership is considering.
Johnson's office did not respond to a request Friday seeking official comment on whether that was his plan; Fox News Digital followed up on Tuesday.
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Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has called on Republicans to shut down the government if the Senate doesn't pass the bill. (Peter Zai/AFP via Getty Images)
Former President Trump said on Monica Crowley's podcast last week that House Republicans should “shut down the government” if such a proposal doesn't pass.
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Meanwhile, House Appropriations Chairman Tom Cole (R-Okla.) had previously said he supported a credit through December, but noted that the final bill would need to pass the Democratic-controlled Senate, and he questioned whether the SAVE Act would be attached.
But Roy's comments are an early warning that the fight over government funding next year could be as nasty as the long-running battle last year that led to the ouster of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.).
