House Republicans push to link government funding to a citizenship check for new voters

WASHINGTON — House Speaker Mike Johnson is heeding the demands of the more conservative wing of his Republican conference and has set up a vote this week on a bill that would keep the federal government funded another six months and require states to provide proof of citizenship, such as a birth certificate or passport, when registering a person to vote.

Congress must pass an emergency spending bill before the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30, to avoid a government shutdown just weeks before voters go to the polls to choose the next president.

Johnson’s decision to combine the proof of citizenship mandate with government funding complicates the prospects for accomplishing that task. The bill is not expected to advance anywhere in the Democratic-controlled Senate, if it ever does.

But the effort could help Johnson, R-La., next year if Republicans retain their majority in the House and he runs for speaker again. The vote also could give Republicans an issue to target Democrats in competitive swing districts, as Republicans make immigration issues a cornerstone of the campaign.

“Today, Republicans in the House of Representatives are taking a critically important step to keep the federal government funded and to safeguard our federal election process,” Johnson said Friday. “Congress has a responsibility to do both, and we must ensure that only American people can decide American elections.”

Democrats will overwhelmingly oppose the GOP effort, warning that any continuation of the resolution must have bipartisan support. They said Johnson was making the same mistake then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., made a year ago when he tried to appease conservatives. Ultimately rejected his efforts, leaving him dependent on Democrats to get a temporary budget bill passed. That fight led to eight Republicans joining Democrats just days later in to delete McCarthy from his position as speaker.

“As we have said repeatedly, avoiding a government shutdown requires bipartisanship, not a bill written by one party. Speaker Johnson is making the same mistake former Speaker McCarthy made a year ago, wasting valuable time catering to the hard-line MAGA right,” Democratic Sens. Chuck Schumer of New York and Patty Murray of Washington state said in a statement, citing Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement. “That tactic didn’t work last September and it won’t work this year.”

They said that if Johnson “drives House Republicans down this highly partisan path, the likelihood of a shutdown increases dramatically, and Americans will know that the responsibility for a shutdown lies with House Republicans.”

Schumer is the Senate majority leader. Murray heads the Senate Appropriations Committee.

The voter registration measure is popular with Republicans in the House of Representatives. The House Freedom Caucus, which typically includes the chamber’s most conservative members, called for it to be attached to a stopgap bill that would keep the government funded through early 2025.

Republicans say requiring proof of citizenship would ensure that U.S. elections are for American citizens only, increasing confidence in the country’s federal election system, something Trump has tried to achieve. undermine over the years.

Opponents say it is already against the law non-citizens are allowed to vote in federal elections and that the documentary requirements would disenfranchise millions of people because they would not have the necessary documents when they wanted to register, for example, at a concert, a fair or a university voter registration drive.

In an earlier vote on the voter registration bill, Republicans had unanimously supported while all but five Democrats voted against it. President Joe Biden’s administration strongly opposed that measure, saying the bill’s alleged justification is easily refuted.

Some Republicans argue that if Schumer allows a vote, assuming the bill passes the House, the government shutdown will be his responsibility.

“If Chuck Schumer decides he doesn’t want to bring it, then Chuck Schumer will decide he wants to shut down the government. It’s not us,” Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., said during an interview with Fox Business News.

Trump and other Republicans have ramped up their complaints about the issue of noncitizens voting amid the influx of migrants across the U.S.-Mexico border under the Biden administration, claiming that Democrats have allowed them to add them to the voter rolls. But the available evidence shows that noncitizens voting in federal elections is incredibly rare.

Another key question that must be addressed as part of the short-term budget bill is how long the funding should be extended. Before the August recess, House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okla., said he preferred to let the next president pursue his top priorities without the distraction of a messy spending fight.

But the House Freedom Caucus is counting on Trump winning the White House and putting the GOP in a better position to secure the spending cuts and policy priorities they want, so they want to extend the funding beyond the January inauguration.

Congress returns to Washington on Monday after spending the past five weeks in their home states and districts. The short-term bill is needed because the House and Senate are far from finished with their work on the 12 annual spending bills that keep government agencies and programs operating during the upcoming fiscal year.

So far, the House has passed five of the 12 annual spending bills, while the Senate has passed none, though the Senate has opted to take a more bipartisan approach to the challenge, shepherding 11 of the bills through the Senate Appropriations Committee with broad support from lawmakers in both parties. Meanwhile, House Republicans are using their majority to push through bills that the vast majority of Democrats oppose.