WASHINGTON – With just 12 days left until a potential government shutdown, the House of Representatives failed Wednesday in an attempt to pass a six-month budget extension with a vote on a controversial bill.
The Assembly voted 220-202 to reject the bill, which would have provided current funding for the government through the end of March 2025 and would have advanced legislation requiring proof of citizenship to vote.
The effort was a pet project of House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, and former President Donald Trump. But the bill has been widely criticized by Democrats because foreigners already cannot vote in federal elections. Critics also argued that it could make voting even harder for millions of Americans who don’t have easy access to citizenship documents.
The bill was also destined to fail in the Democratic-controlled Senate, and House Republicans acknowledged before the vote that they would not have enough support from their GOP peers to pass the bill.
But it was an opportunity for Johnson to show the right that he was trying to pass one of his key immigration and election priorities.
“Parliament has a duty to fund the government and a duty to ensure that elections are safe, fair and free – tonight’s vote will achieve both,” Johnson told reporters after the vote, adding that he was “very disappointed” the bill did not pass.
“We will develop new strategies and come up with solutions. I am already discussing with my colleagues their various ideas. There is time to improve the situation and we will act immediately.”
President Trump posted on Truth Social on Wednesday that House Republicans should not agree to a budget extension “in any form” unless a voting bill passes, and falsely claimed that foreign votes, which are extremely rare, could sway the outcome of the presidential election.
Johnson on Wednesday deferred to the former president and declined to comment on whether he would authorize a government shutdown over the voting bill.
Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, said ahead of Wednesday’s vote that Johnson hadn’t said anything about a plan if the latest effort fails.
“I think there’s always a plan, but I think he’s focused on what the primary objective is,” he said. “Once you start talking about Plan B, everybody forgets about Plan A.”
But with the end of the month fast approaching, an actual government shutdown seems unlikely, as neither party wants to risk such a catastrophe ahead of a presidential election in which they would surely be punished by voters.
“We can’t have a government shutdown,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) told reporters on Tuesday. “It would be politically foolish to do it right before an election, because it would be absolutely reprehensible.”
With Johnson’s plan collapsing on Wednesday, Parliament now has the next seven days to craft a deal that can pass both houses, with MPs due to return to their constituencies in October.
“We need a deadline in December to move the plan forward, then we can negotiate the programs and funding we need,” said Rep. Rosa DeLauro, a Connecticut Democrat and ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee. “We’ve wasted another week on an extension effort that’s sure to fail.”
There are some signs that lawmakers may be successful in funding the government, or at least put the problem off. Despite the House’s failure to pass a government funding package on Wednesday, Republicans and Democrats in the Senate are more aligned. Senate leaders support a short extension expiring in mid-to-late December to allow lawmakers to negotiate funding levels with full knowledge of the incoming presidential administration.
“If the Speaker’s CR fails, I expect we will move to a strategy that actually works: bipartisan cooperation,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said on the Senate floor on Wednesday. “Bipartisan cooperation is the only thing that has kept our government afloat every time a budget deadline looms. Bipartisan cooperation is the only thing that will work this time around.”
Sen. John Thune of Lausanne, the Republican leader, said the House would begin working on its own funding agreement if it can’t pass the bill by the end of the week. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, the top Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee, said Tuesday that process hasn’t started but “time is running out.”
What happens if the government shuts down?
Federal employees classified as “non-essential” during the government shutdown will be furloughed and paid once the government reopens. “Essential” employees needed to maintain the federal government’s most essential functions will continue to work and receive their pay.
Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid benefits are deemed essential and will continue, though it may be harder to contact representatives for assistance during the government shutdown. Other important benefit programs, such as veterans programs and food programs, will also continue.
Federal law enforcement agencies, including the U.S. military, FBI, DEA and prison officials, as well as the Secret Service, Coast Guard and Border Patrol, will also continue to operate.
National parks and monuments will be closed to the public, and other government services like passport and visa assistance may be harder to obtain during the closures, and child care programs like Head Start will face funding shortages.
Airport security guards and air traffic controllers will continue to work, but their absence could cause airline delays.
With help from Sudiksha Kochi.