The House of Representatives rejected a spending proposal to avoid a federal shutdown. The proposal included a measure requiring voters to provide proof of citizenship.
The US House of Representatives has rejected a Republican-sponsored spending bill to maintain funding for federal agencies and programs for six months and avoid a federal shutdown.
The House of Representatives on Wednesday rejected, by a vote of 220 against and 202 in favor, the plan presented by the speaker of the house, Republican Mike Johnson, for a budget that runs until March 2025, that is, after the new president takes office.
Although Republicans hold a majority in the lower house of Congress, 14 members of the party joined the Democratic caucus and voted against the bill, despite the support shown by former president and Republican candidate for the White House Donald Trump.
The proposal included a Measure to require voters to provide proof of citizenship in elections Presidential elections on November 5.
It’s been months since Republicans have been promoting the idea that some of the immigrants who entered the country illegally across the U.S.-Mexico border in recent years could make or break the election.
It is illegal for non-US citizens to vote And research has shown that such voting is extremely rare.
The US presidency and Democrats also opposed the proposal, arguing that the extension of government funding should only last until December, so that a new budget could be negotiated in the winter before the next head of state takes office.
The U.S. Congress must pass a spending bill by Sept. 30 to avoid a federal shutdown that begins the next day, just weeks before the election.
A strike would mean placing millions of public servants in a situation of technical unemployment, the suspension of certain food aid and the interruption of air traffic.
Mike Johnson had already withdrawn the proposal in early August due to lack of support.
Opponents of the GOP bill argue that it still includes spending at levels they consider excessive.
Trump appeared to encourage a government shutdownif Republicans in the House and Senate “are not given assurances on election security,” according to a post on the billionaire’s social media site, Truth Social, in early August.
Since 1976, the US government has run out of funds on about 20 occasions, although most of the time it was only for a day.
The longest shutdown, lasting 35 days between December 2018 and January 2019, occurred during Trump’s presidency, due to disagreements over funding for his planned wall on the border with Mexico.
Source: Observadora
