A plan by House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) to attach the SAVE Act to a stopgap spending bill died in the House on Wednesday after Republicans opposed the measure.
A six-month stopgap spending bill, also known as a continuing resolution (CR), failed 202-220.
Fourteen Republicans voted against the bill and two voted “abstain,” while three Democrats voted in favor of the bill.
During the August congressional recess, Johnson said he would attach the SAVE Act, which would require proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections, to a six-month continuing resolution.
As Breitbart News reporter Bradley Jay reported, many sides in the House Republican Conference opposed the plan.
Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Alabama) has publicly opposed the bill, arguing it would harm defense spending, and other defense hardliners are expected to follow suit. A few senators opposed bundling the SAVE Act with a spending bill. Several members of the House Appropriations Committee opposed the six-month period and preferred a three-month bill, which would give appropriators and Democrats an opportunity to pass a large omnibus bill during the lame-duck session of Congress.
Conservatives also opposed the continuation of spending levels and priorities that they never approved in the first place.
Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.), who voted against the bill, said in a written statement after the vote:
Today, I voted against another spending bill that doesn't cut federal spending by a cent; this bill adds $1 trillion to our debt, keeps spending at the same level as under Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and funds the Biden-Harris Administration's “Open Borders, Last American Policy.”
Nearly 60% of Indiana residents say they are driving less to save on gas, and Indiana families are struggling to cover everyday expenses more than any other Midwest state.
I am not on board with the inflationary spending that is already putting working families in a bind. Now that this CR has failed, I hope that Chairman Johnson will cut spending and send a spending bill to Congress that includes the SAVE Act.
“Today we are voting for a continuing resolution that funds the entire government in one bill and does not cut a penny. I urged my colleagues on the House floor this morning not to take part in this disingenuous and dishonest political theater,” said Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), who has opposed Johnson's spending strategy.
Last week, Johnson withdrew the spending bill after all Republicans in the House opposed it.
Sean Moran is a policy reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter. Sean Moran 3.
