House Republicans on Friday unveiled a long-awaited plan to avert a government shutdown that is sure to anger Democrats and is already drawing skepticism from some Republicans.
of 46-page plan The bill would keep the government funded through March 2025 while adding language tightening citizenship requirements to vote, setting the stage for a budget showdown with Senate Democrats later this month.
“Today, House Republicans are taking a vital step to protect federal funding and keep our federal election process safe,” House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) said after introducing the bill.
“Congress has a responsibility to do both and ensure that only the American people can decide America's elections.”
The strategy of combining the Continuing Resolution (CR) and the Protecting American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act comes as Republicans seek to make immigration and the border key election issues ahead of the November election.
The voting bill passed the House earlier this year largely along partisan lines, with only five Democrats in vulnerable districts joining Republicans to pass the measure.
Supporters of the bill say it would ensure that only citizens can vote in federal elections by requiring states to require proof of citizenship to register to vote and by requiring states to remove non-citizens from their voter rolls.
But Democrats are vetoing the bill, and the Biden administration vowed to veto it when the House of Representatives took up the measure last month, noting that it is already a crime for foreign nationals to vote in federal elections. The White House also argued that the bill would make it harder to register to vote, increasing “the risk that voters will be removed from the voter rolls.”
Conservatives are also pushing to extend until next year the current Sept. 30 deadline for lawmakers to work out the 2025 budget, with the hope that former President Donald Trump will return to the White House in November.
Supporters of the move say it would give President Trump even more influence over writing much of the government's 2025 budget.
But critics of the plan, including Republican officials, have downplayed the impact such a strategy would have on funding negotiations. They also acknowledge that the timing and the inclusion of the SAVE Act would ensure that the Democratic-controlled Senate would reject the bill in its current form.
Democrats are also fighting back.
“A continuing resolution that ends in December rather than one that ends in six months is better for our national security and military readiness, our veterans and their families, those recovering from natural disasters, and hardworking American taxpayers,” Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, said in a statement this week. “Let's hope the majority doesn't lead to a Republican-run government shutdown.”
Updated 6:23 p.m.
