On Sunday, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Mike Johnson introduced a temporary funding bill aimed at preventing a partial government shutdown at the end of the month, notably omitting an immigration-related provision sought by Donald Trump.
In a letter to his colleagues, Johnson detailed this plan just eight days prior to the expiration of the current $1.2 trillion discretionary budget on September 30. According to a source familiar with the situation, the House is expected to vote on this proposal on Wednesday.
If Congress does not act by the deadline, it would lead to the furlough of thousands of federal employees and disrupt numerous government services, all occurring just weeks before the election on November 5.
This new proposal does not include Trump’s call for new requirements mandating proof of citizenship for voter registration, aligning instead with Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s recommendation for a straightforward funding extension until December. The plan extends funding through December 20.
“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,” Johnson remarked in his correspondence.
Democratic leaders, including Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, expressed hope that a bipartisan agreement could be achieved.
Jeffries responded positively to the Sunday announcement, stating that House Democrats would review the proposal following a prior attempt by Republicans to push through a partisan policy.
“Congress is now on a bipartisan path to avoid a government shutdown that would hurt everyday Americans,” Jeffries noted.
The House, currently controlled by Republicans with a slim margin of 220-211, previously dismissed Johnson’s earlier suggestion for a six-month funding extension that included the voter-registration clause, which Democrats and advocates for democracy consider unnecessary since it is already illegal for non-citizens to participate in federal elections.
A more pressing deadline looms on January 1, when Congress must raise the national debt ceiling to prevent a default on over $35 trillion in federal debt.
The proposed bill allocates $231 million in additional funding for the U.S. Secret Service in light of a recent assassination attempt on Trump in July, which left him with a grazed ear, and another incident this month where a gunman was found waiting near a Florida golf course where Trump was playing.
These additional resources are intended “for operations necessary to carry out protective operations including the 2024 presidential campaign,” the bill states.
{Matzav.com}