by Eric Lendrum
The Republican majority in the United States House of Representatives is now planning to vote on a stopgap spending bill that will not include a critical election integrity measure that conservatives have been desperately trying to pass.
As the Washington Examiner reports, the newly-proposed continuing resolution (CR) was released on Sunday. The measure would maintain current levels of government spending until December 20th, at which point Congress would have to negotiate either a long-term solution or another short-term delay.
Last week, the House voted on a spending bill which included a core component of the SAVE Act, an election integrity bill that had previously been passed in the House but has since stalled in the Senate. The measure would’ve required that anyone who attempts to vote in an election must present proof of being an American citizen.
However, that bill was defeated when 14 Republicans sided with most Democrats in voting against it, while three Democrats defected from their party to vote in favor of it. The 14 Republicans who ultimately shot down the bill were: Jim Banks (R-Ind.), Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.), Eli Crane (R-Ariz.), Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), Wesley Hunt (R-Texas), Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.), Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), Cory Mills (R-Fla.), Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), Matt Rosendale (R-Mont.), Greg Steube (R-Fla.), and Beth Van Duyne (R-Texas).
On Sunday, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-La.) wrote a “Dear Colleague” letter to all lawmakers announcing his next steps.
“Since we fell a bit short of the goal line, an alternative plan is now required. The feedback and ideas from everyone have been very helpful, and next week the House will take the initiative and pass a clean, three-month CR to prevent the Senate from jamming us with a bill loaded with billions in new spending and unrelated provisions,” Speaker Johnson explained. “Our legislation will be a very narrow, bare-bones CR including only the extensions that are absolutely necessary.”
However, the complete absence of the election integrity law could lead to conservative Republicans again boycotting the measure. Former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee for president and the current frontrunner in the 2024 election, has urged Republicans to shut down the government if the funding bill does not include the SAVE Act.
Johnson has not yet stated when he intends to bring the measure for a floor vote. If a funding bill is not passed by October 1st, then the federal government’s funding will lapse and the government will shut down.
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Eric Lendrum graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he was the Secretary of the College Republicans and the founding chairman of the school’s Young Americans for Freedom chapter.
