WASHINGTON: The House on September 19 rejected Speaker Mike Johnson’s plan to fund the government for six months, cranking up tensions around a fast-approaching government shutdown deadline not only throughout Congress but also within Republicans’ brittle House majority, reports The Washington Post.
Fourteen Republicans joined with Democrats to block Johnson’s bill, which combined a six-month extension of federal funds at current spending levels with a measure the House already passed requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote in national elections. The Democratic-controlled Senate and the White House oppose the House bill, because of the length of the extension and because of the registration provisions.
Funding for the federal government expires September 30, and without an extension, most federal government operations would shut down October 1 as millions of Americans begin early voting in November’s election.
September 18’s result — a 220- 202 vote with two voting present — was hardly in doubt. GOP lawmakers from across the ideological spectrum had said publicly for more than a week that they opposed the legislation. But Johnson (R-La.) has insisted there is “no Plan B” to prevent a shutdown if the bill fails.
