The United States House of Representatives is set to vote this week on a stop-gap measure that would fund the government through Dec. 20. This legislation does not, however, contain any portion of the so-called SAVE Act, a bill requiring proof of citizenship when registering to vote.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) had previously put forward a Continuing Resolution, or C.R., that would have funded the government for six months and advanced the SAVE Act, short for the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act.
The idea was to force Democratic lawmakers to take what could for some be a controversial vote just before the elections.
This past Wednesday, House lawmakers failed to advance this package after fourteen Republicans joined nearly all Democrats in opposition to the legislation.
Republican opposition to the package reportedly stemmed from a variety of concerns, including the use of a stop-gap measure itself and its inclusion of “excessive spending.”
In addition to the fourteen Republicans opposing the original measure, Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Thomas Massie (R-KY) voted present. The three Democrats to express support for this stop-gap bill included Reps. Jared Golden (D-ME), Don Davis (D-NC) and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-WA).
House Speaker Johnson explained in a letter to his colleagues that the new stop-gap measure “will be a very narrow, bare-bones [Continuing Resolution] including only the extensions that are absolutely necessary.”
“While this is not the solution any of us prefer, it is the most prudent path forward under the present circumstances,” Johnson continued. “As history has taught and current polling affirms, shutting the government down less than 40 days from a fateful election would be an act of political malpractice.”
Although the SAVE Act has been cut from the new proposal, it does reportedly include $231 million for the Secret Service “for operations necessary to carry out protective operations including the 2024 Presidential Campaign and National Special Security Events.”
A House Republican leadership aide told NBC News that the House is expected to consider Johnson’s proposal on Wednesday.
Lawmakers in both chambers must approve funding legislation by October 1 in order to avoid a government shutdown.
A spokesperson for the White House’s Office of Management and Budget told NBC News that “the Administration urges swift passage” of Johnson’s updated proposal.
“This short-term [Continuing Resolution] will keep the government open and give Congress more time to complete full-year funding bills that deliver for our national defense, veterans, seniors, children, and working families, and address urgent needs for the American people including communities recovering from disasters,” the spokesperson said.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said in a statement to NBC News that while he is “pleased” about the new stop-gap measure, he was upset at Johnson’s decision to previously put forward the six-month stop-gap that included the SAVE Act.
“While I am pleased bipartisan negotiations quickly led to a government funding agreement free of cuts and poison pills, this same agreement could have been done two weeks ago,” Sen. Schumer said. “Instead, Speaker Johnson chose to follow the MAGA way and wasted precious time.”
Schumer has previously called the effort to include the SAVE Act in a Continuing Resolution “unworkable” in a floor speech.
The SAVE Act was first put forward earlier this year by a large group of Republican lawmakers with the purpose of protecting the integrity of U.S. elections in light of the surge in illegal immigration.
Under the proposed law, those seeking voter registration would need to provide “documentary proof of United States citizenship,” such as a REAL ID compliant form of identification, passport, military ID, or a government-issued photo ID “showing that the applicant’s place of birth was in the United States.”
Other government-issued photo IDs may be used if presented in conjunction with another qualifying document, such as a birth certificate or naturalization certificate.
[RELATED: House Advances Bill Requiring Proof of Citizenship When Registering to Vote, Maine Delegation Splits]
Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) — one of the forty-nine House lawmakers in the cohort that introduced this bill — advocated for the SAVE Act as a means by which to “end the practice of non-citizens voting in our elections.”
Last month, the White House issued a statement strongly opposing the bill, arguing that it would “do nothing to safeguard our elections,” serving only to make it more difficult for eligible voters to cast their ballots.
Although the SAVE Act was successfully approved by House lawmakers in August as a standalone bill, it is unlikely that the legislation will be able to gain traction in the Democrat-controlled Senate, and given the Biden Administration’s express opposition to the measure, the bill would likely be vetoed if it were to reach the president’s desk.
Why would Democrats want to prevent non citizens from voting for them ?
They have let close to twenty million of them into the country for that very purpose .
Chuck Schumer is a P.O.S.
He let Golden vote the way he did because he knew the bill would not pass .
Golden wants the illegal votes as much as the next democrat .
We need to VOTE THESE PEOPLE out in November .
If Harris is elected we are all done .
I said it when the reDUMBlicans told us they were going to put the save act in the funding bill. The reDUMBlicans will fold like a cheap lawn chair. Ya I know that wasn’t going very far out on a limb, when don’t they.
The Elephant has morphed into the Cowardly Lion.
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