WASHINGTON — Congress is heading toward another month-end government shutdown deadline without a clear plan for passing a bipartisan stopgap budget authorization bill — and without recent interference from the Republican presidential nominee.
Republicans in the House of Representatives have so far planned to go it alone and have scheduled a vote for Wednesday on a resolution to extend the law for six months, even though that bill does not receive the votes needed to pass both chambers.
President Joe Biden also threatened to veto the bill to ensure it has no chance of becoming law.
Meanwhile, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump tried to stir up trouble on Tuesday by urging his party to force a shutdown if Democrats do not accept a separate bill introduced by Republicans that would require ID for voter registration.
“Unless Republicans in the House and Senate receive absolute assurances on election security, THEY SHOULD NOT ADVANCE A CONTINUED BUDGET RESOLUTION,” Trump wrote on social media.
Republican leaders in the House of Representatives have contained a bill requiring proof of citizenship to register for federal elections in their interim budget law. It is already illegal for non-citizens to vote in federal elections.
The original draft vote, HR8281, was first introduced by Chip Roy, a Republican congressman from Texas, a member of the far-right House Freedom Caucus. It adopted 221-198 in July, when five Democrats voted with the Republicans, but the attempt failed in the Senate.
The White House rejected this sidecar in a statement of government policy released earlier this week. Write that the “unrelated cynical legislation … would do nothing to secure our elections, but would make it significantly more difficult for all eligible Americans to register to vote and would increase the risk of eligible voters being purged from the voter rolls.”
To prevent a partial government shutdown just weeks before the November elections, Congress must pass a budget bill before the end of the month.
Senators react
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer urged congressional leaders to come together and negotiate a bipartisan agreement during a press conference Tuesday.
“The bottom line is that we want bipartisan negotiations,” Schumer said. “We’re going to sit down and have bipartisan negotiations, and that’s the only way to get this done.”
Schumer blamed House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, for calling such a meeting.
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said during a separate press conference that he would reserve his judgment on the House budget bill until he saw whether it would actually pass the chamber.
“I think we have to wait and see what the House sends us first, and then of course it’s up to the majority leader how we deal with it,” said the Kentucky Republican. “But the first step should be what comes out of the House. And I think we don’t know that right now.”
McConnell said that a government shutdown should not happen under any circumstances, clearly rejecting Trump’s demands for one.
“A government shutdown is always a bad idea,” he said.
Thune points to predictability for the military
John Thune, the Republican Senate whip from South Dakota, criticized the six-month stopgap budget bill passed by House Republicans, which is likely to delay negotiations on the administration’s 12 annual budget bills until early next year.
This could adversely affect the vetting of the next president’s Cabinet nominees, hearings and votes in the Senate in the first months of the recent year.
“I think that’s a very accurate observation about what could happen next year, and I think that’s something everyone has to take into account when we make a decision about how long the CR should last,” Thune said.
Thune also pointed out the negative impact of a longer-term transitional budget on the Ministry of Defense and military readiness.
“When we fund the government, we should do it in a way that provides predictability and certainty, especially for our military planners,” Thune said. “I think that’s an argument for a shorter term and getting these issues resolved before the new Congress arrives in January.”
However, he said Republican leaders in the Senate would consider the stance of those who favor the longer-term, six-month spending measure proposed by Republicans in the House.
“There are people who think it’s a good strategy to postpone this until next year,” Thune said. “We’ll hear from everyone on this in the next few days and then, depending on what the House sends us and what Schumer does with it, we’ll decide how to respond.”
Ariana Figueroa contributed to this report.
