WASHINGTON — The far-right Freedom Caucus is pushing House Republican leaders to condition government funding on approval of new proof-of-citizenship requirements for voting and to create a new deadline that faces widespread opposition in the Senate.
The tactic would risk a government shutdown just a month before the 2024 elections, a scenario some Republican leaders prefer to avoid as it could play into Democrats’ favor politically.
The deadline to avoid a government shutdown is October 1st. Election Day is November 5th, although early voting begins before then.
With Congress in recess until Sept. 9 and little progress made so far on appropriations, lawmakers will almost certainly need a short-term funding bill — also known as a continuing resolution, or CR — to avoid a shutdown.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has made no decision on what a CR will look like or when he would set a deadline for its expiration.
The Freedom Caucus said Monday in a statement that the group has taken the official position that a CR “should include the SAVE Act — as requested by President Trump — to prevent noncitizens from voting to preserve free and fair elections,” accusing the Biden-Harris Administration of having illegally “imported” people into the US.
Trump and other top Republicans have repeated this claim, pushing for nationwide proof of citizenship in voting, falsely alleging a conspiracy to use undocumented people to benefit Democrats in elections. Voting by non-citizens is already illegal and very rare. Critics of the bill say the new requirements could disenfranchise American citizens.
The SAVE Act recently passed in the Republican-led House but died when it reached the Democratic-controlled Senate. If GOP leaders tied it to government funding, it would trigger a standoff with Democrats and President Joe Biden that risks a government shutdown.
The Freedom Caucus added that in the case of a stopgap bill, “government funding should be extended until early 2025 to avoid a limp bus that preserves Democratic spending and policies until the next administration.”
It would also trigger a fight, as many lawmakers prefer to handle government funding until the fall of 2025, in the lame duck session. House and Senate Democrats favor a 2024 deadline. And Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, vice chairwoman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, recently told NBC News that it would be a “mistake” to delay the deadline for the new year, considering that it would be more sensible to complete the process in 2024 and give the new president a “clean slate” next January.
Senate Appropriations Chair Patty Murray, D-Wash., said the Freedom Caucus’ demands amount to “outrageous partisan pills” that are “impossible,” calling for a bipartisan approach.
“The SAVE Act is nothing more than a partisan intimidation tactic designed to undermine confidence in our elections. It is already illegal for noncitizens to register and vote in federal elections – our elections are free and fair, despite Donald Trump’s dangerous, often incoherent ramblings,” Murray told NBC News in a statement.
She said the Senate will look for a “bipartisan way to ensure we can keep the government funded and introduce responsible bipartisan spending bills that can actually be signed into law before the end of the year.”
The Freedom Caucus is going through a period of turmoil, as its chairman, Rep. Bob Good, R-Va., lost a hotly contested primary by a razor-thin margin. But the group of about 40 members punched above its weight in a narrow Republican majority in the House.
Asked to respond, Johnson spokeswoman Athina Lawson did not address the new Tory demands and said only that the House has “made significant progress” on funding bills for the full year through September next year.
“The House Appropriations Committee diligently withdrew all 12 bills from committee and the House approved 75 percent of the government’s funding for the next fiscal year, while the Senate has yet to consider a single appropriations bill,” he said she. “The Chamber will continue its successful effort to responsibly fund the government for FY25 when it returns from the district work period.”
This story originally appeared on NBCNews.com read the full story
