House Republicans poised to reject funding bill with shutdown just around the corner
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House Votes Against Speaker Johnson's Govt Spending Bill
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Above: US Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-La.) heads to his office before the vote on the government funding bill at the US Capitol on Sept.18, 2024 in Washington, DC. Image copyright: Tasos Katopodis/Stringer/Getty Images News via Getty Images
The Facts
By a vote of 220-202, the US House voted against House Speaker Mike Johnson's (R-La) proposed six-month federal government funding bill. Of the 220 who voted against, most were Democrats, though 14 Republicans joined them and two Republicans voted present.
The temporary funding bill, known as a stopgap bill, is valued at $1.6T and includes a provision called the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which would implement new proof-of-citizenship requirements for voter registration.
The Spin
Republican narrative
While some Republicans have differing opinions on certain things, the party is very much in agreement on the issue of election security. The real problem is that Senate Democrats haven't brought appropriations bills to the floor, which, alongside the House Democrats refusing to ban illegal immigrants from voting, leaves the government stuck in limbo.
Democratic narrative
Since Republicans know that noncitizens don't actually vote, what other reason could they have for pushing this? One of the most horrific possibilities is that if the passport and/or birth certificate ID rules were imposed, millions of women who don't have a passport and whose maiden name doesn't match their married name could be banned from voting. These machinations are quite possibly leading to a government shutdown.
