House Speaker Johnson wants to push through interim budget bill | News, Sports, Jobs

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Mike Johnson will push ahead with a temporary spending bill that would prevent a partial government shutdown when the new fiscal year begins Oct. 1, despite headwinds that prompted him to withdraw the bill last week.

Among other things, the bill would require voters to show proof of citizenship. This has become a major issue for Republicans this election year. They fear that non-citizens could vote in the US, even though this is already illegal and studies have shown that this type of voting rarely occurs.

“I call on all my colleagues to do what the overwhelming majority of the people of this country rightly demand and deserve – namely, to prevent non-Americans from participating in American elections,” Johnson said on Tuesday.

Johnson told reporters he was not prepared to discuss an alternative plan to maintain government funding beyond what would be presented to the House of Representatives on Wednesday.

“I'm not having alternative conversations. This is the game. It's an important one. And I'm going to work around the clock to get it done,” Johnson said.

The bill faces an uphill battle in the House and has no chance in the Senate. The vast majority of Democrats oppose it, and some Republicans oppose it as well, but for different reasons.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said the only way to avoid a government shutdown is for both sides to work together to reach an agreement. He said the House vote Johnson had announced was doomed to fail.

“The only thing we're going to accomplish is make it clear that it's a dead end,” Schumer said. “We need a bipartisan plan instead.”

The bill would fund the agencies at current levels while lawmakers work out their differences on an agreement on full-year spending.

Democrats and some Republicans are pushing for a short extension. A temporary solution would allow the current Congress to draft a final bill after the election and send it to President Joe Biden for his signature.

But Johnson and some of the more conservative members of his conference are pushing for a six-month extension in the hope that Republican candidate Donald Trump will win the election and give them more influence in drafting the law for the full year.

Schumer said a six-month measure would disadvantage the Pentagon and other government agencies that need more certainty about their funding levels.

“You simply cannot keep the military running with six-month stopgap measures,” Schumer said.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell declined to comment on how long the funding would be extended, saying Schumer and Johnson would ultimately have to work out a final agreement that could pass both chambers.

“The only thing we cannot tolerate is a government shutdown. It would be politically foolish if we did that so close to the election, because we would certainly be blamed,” McConnell said.

Johnson said last week he was not giving up on his proposal and would work through the weekend to gain support. He said that “the most pressing issue right now is to ensure that only U.S. citizens can vote in federal elections, and we will get that job done.”

On Sunday, he traveled to Florida to meet with Trump, who had previously apparently called for a government shutdown if Republicans “don't get assurances on election security.” Trump said on the social media platform Truth Social that they should not pass a stopgap bill without such assurances.

The House of Representatives already passed a bill to require citizenship verification in July. Some Republicans who see the issue as popular with their constituents are pushing for another chance to show their support for the measure. However, other Republicans are expected to vote no because they believe the spending in the bill is excessive.