WASHINGTON – With only 12 days remaining until the government could shut down The House tried – but failed to approve an extension of funding for six months which was linked to a controversial piece of the legislation it voted on this Wednesday.

The chamber of the House voted 220-202 to reject the bill, which would allow the government to be funded at the current levels until the end of March 2025. It would also move forward a bill that would require voters to provide proof of citizenship to vote.

The legislation is a favorite idea that is the work of House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La. Former the president Donald Trump. However, the bill has faced massive criticism from Democrats because non-citizens cannot vote in elections held by the federal government. Some have also suggested that it will affect voting rights to many millions of Americans who don’t have access to their passports.

The package also would have been doomed to fail in the Democratically-controlled Senate, and House Republicans acknowledged ahead of the vote that it wouldn’t receive enough support from GOP lawmakers to pass.

But it also gave Johnson an opportunity to showcase his right-hand side, and he even tried to get one of their most important priority issues in the area of immigration and election.

“Congress has an obligation to fund the government, and Congress has an obligation to ensure that our elections are secure, fair, and free. This vote tonight would have accomplished both,” Johnson spoke to reporters following the vote, saying Johnson was “very disappointed” it didn’t be a success.

“We’ll draw up another play, and we’ll come up with a solution. I’m already talking to colleagues about their many ideas. We have time to fix the situation, and we’ll get right to it.”

Trump stated the following on Truth Social Wednesday that House Republicans shouldn’t agree to an extension of funding “in any way, shape, or form” in the event that the voter’s bill fails to succeed and falsely stated that the non-citizen vote could influence the outcome for the 2016 presidential elections. The practice of non-citizen voting is very uncommon.

Johnson was hesitant to announce on Wednesday whether he’d be open to hearing from his former President and let the government be shut down due to the vote legislation.

House Appropriations Committee Chairman Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla. He said prior to the vote on Wednesday that Johnson hasn’t told him what the next steps are in the event that the plan is unsuccessful.

“I think there’s always an alternative, but I think he’s focused on what your main objective is,” the man said. “You start talking about Plan Bs everybody forgets about Plan A.”

But a shutdown isn’t likely, especially when the end of the month is fast approaching. Both parties don’t want to be in danger of a disaster as they prepare for elections for the presidency, because they’ll likely be rebuked by voters.

“We cannot have a government shutdown,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. said to reporters on Tuesday. “It would be politically beyond stupid for us to do that right before the election, because certainly we’d get the blame.”

The failure of Johnson’s plan on Wednesday means that Congress will be spending the next seven days trying to negotiate a compromise that is able to be approved by both chambers. Congress members will return to the districts they represent during in October.

“We need a date in December for which we can try to move the ball forward. Then we will go and negotiate the programs and the money that we need,” said House Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn. “We wasted another week” working on an extension that was certain to be a failure.

There are hints that lawmakers could be able to raise funds for the government, or at the very least kick the can further down the road. Despite the House’s failure Wednesday to approve a government funding bill, Senate Republicans and Democrats are more in agreement. Senate members favor a short extension that will end the mid-to-late December, to let lawmakers discuss funding levels with complete knowledge of the new president’s administration.

“I hope that once the Speaker’s CR fails he moves on to a strategy that will actually work: bipartisan cooperation,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. spoke in the Senate floor Wednesday. “It’s the only thing that has kept the government open every time we have faced a funding deadline. It’s going to be the only thing that works this time too.”

Republican Senator Whip. John Thune, R-S.D. The chamber will begin working for its own budget agreement in the event that the House isn’t able to pass something by the end of this week. Senate. Susan Collins, R-Maine who is the most powerful Republican member of the Senate Appropriations committee, said the process hasn’t yet started however “time is growing very short.”

What happens if there is an unplanned shutdown of the government?

In the event of a government shutdown federal agencies classed as “nonessential” are sent home and are paid after the government opens. “Essential” workers – those required to keep the most vital components that make up the government in operation are expected to continue working and get paid.

Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid benefits are considered to be vital and will continue to be provided, even though it could be difficult to contact representatives to seek assistance during the closing. Other major benefits programs, like veteran programs as well as food programs will be maintained.

It is expected that the U.S. military and federal law enforcement agencies like those of the FBI, DEA, and prison staff and agents from the Secret Service, Coast Guard and border security personnel will also continue to work.

National monuments, parks, and other national sites will be closed to the public, and it could be difficult to access other services from the government, such as assistance in obtaining passports and visas in the event of a shutdown. Head Start, a child care program, would be left without funding. Head Start would be left without funds

Security at airports and air traffic controllers are expected to continue working, but there may be delays for airlines because of absences.

Sudiksha Kochi contributed.
Source : https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2024/09/18/stopgap-funding-bill-fails-government-shutdown-deadline/75277688007/