Congress passes a bill to avoid a shutdown before the election, sending it to Biden

WASHINGTON — Congress overwhelmingly passed a funding bill Wednesday to avert a government shutdown next week after House Republicans killed a proposal pushed by Donald Trump that would have required Americans nationwide to show proof of citizenship to register to vote.

The Senate voted 78-18 late Wednesday, shortly after the House passed the same measure by a vote of 341-82, with all opposition in both chambers coming from Republicans.

House Republican leaders, facing defections in their ranks, relied heavily on Democratic votes to pass the short-term measure. It now heads to President Joe Biden, who plans to sign it well before Tuesday’s closing deadline. Both chambers are set to adjourn this week for a long recess and won’t return to Washington until after the Nov. 5 election.

The package, negotiated by House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and top Democrats, would fund the government at current levels through Dec. 20, setting off another spending fight just before the holidays. It would also provide $231 million in additional money to the Secret Service, including for operations related to the presidential campaign, following two apparent assassination attempts on Trump.

Trump has publicly insisted that Republicans in Congress shut down the government unless they can pass proof-of-citizenship voting legislation known as the SAVE Act, even though it is already illegal and rare for non-citizens to vote in federal elections.

But after the House last week rejected a package that combined government funding and the SAVE Act, Johnson ditched Trump-backed election legislation and brought in the new spending bill, largely clean. Defending the move, Johnson and other key Republicans argued that a GOP-led shutdown just 35 days before Election Day would amount to “political malpractice.”

Johnson denied that he was “defying Trump” on the voting legislation, arguing that they have been in close contact throughout the funding fight and that they both believe the SAVE Act is essential to ensuring the integrity of elections.

“I’m not defying President Trump. I have talked to him a lot and he is very frustrated with the situation. His concern is election security and so is mine. It’s all ours,” Johnson told reporters Tuesday.

He blamed Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., for not taking up the SAVE Act as a stand-alone measure in the Senate. “We passed the SAVE Act over the summer and it sat on Chuck Schumer’s desk gathering dust; it drives us crazy,” Johnson said. “President Trump understands the current dilemma in the situation we are in, and therefore there is no light between us.”

Once signed into law, the temporary bill will trigger another stalling battle in the post-election session, but with the benefit of both sides knowing the balance of power next year.

“I think the vast, vast majority of Congress does not want a shutdown,” said Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark. “So let’s go through the election and decide what we want to do.”

The short-term funding bill, known as a continuing resolution, or CR, required two-thirds support to pass in the House because it came up for discussion under a fast-track process known as “suspension of the rules” . This was necessary because conservatives on the Johnson-aligned Rules Committee refused to help advance the package through committee.

“It’s like kicking the road,” complained Rep. Dan Bishop, RN.C., a member of the far-right Freedom Caucus, which opposed CR.

Instead of blaming Johnson, former Freedom Caucus Chairman Scott Perry, Republican of Pennsylvania, pointed the finger at Senate Democrats, who failed to pass any of the 12 annual government funding bills for the new fiscal year.

“You always blame us for all this stuff, but the Senate has brought up bills with zero appropriations. Zero,” Perry said. “You must have a dance partner, and our partner refuses to show up.”

Schumer said he’s glad the GOP has learned that “partisan bully tactics” don’t work on funding measures, while chiding them for wasting time.

“There will be no shutdown, because ultimately, at the end of the day, our Republican colleagues in the House have decided to work with us … I hope the House will have learned its lesson that, once again, listening to the right. on these vital issues — funding the government, avoiding default — can’t lead to anything useful or constructive,” Schumer said before Wednesday’s vote. “In fact, I hope this positive bipartisanship result can set the tone for more constructive bipartisan work when we return in the fall.”