WASHINGTON – With just 12 days to go until a potential government shutdown, the House attempted – and failed – to pass a 6-month funding extension that was tied to a contentious piece of voting legislation on Wednesday.
The chamber voted 220-202 to defeat the measure, which would fund the government at existing levels through the end of March 2025 and advance a bill that would require people to show proof of citizenship in order to vote.
The effort has been a pet project of House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and former President Donald Trump. But the legislation has received widespread criticism from Democrats, as non-citizens already can't vote in federal elections. Critics also argued it could make voting harder for millions of Americans who don't have easy access to their citizenship documents.
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 offered Johnson the opportunity to show his right flank he tried to pass one of their key immigration and election-related priorities.
"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 told reporters following the vote, adding he is "very disappointed" it didn't pass.
"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 wrote on Truth Social Wednesday that House Republicans should not agree to a funding extension "in any way, shape, or form" if the voting legislation does not pass and falsely claimed that non-citizen voting could sway the results of the presidential election. Non-citizen voting is extremely rare .
Johnson declined to say on Wednesday whether he would listen to the former president and allow the government to shut down over the voting legislation.
House Appropriations Committee Chairman Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., said ahead of the vote Wednesday that Johnson has not told him what the plan is once the effort fails.
"I think there's always an alternative, but I think he's focused on what your main objective is," he said. "You start talking about Plan Bs everybody forgets about Plan A."
However, an actual shutdown is unlikely, even as the end of the month rapidly approaches. Neither party wants to risk such a catastrophe in the lead up to the presidential election, when they would surely be punished by voters.
"We cannot have a government shutdown," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., told reporters Tuesday. "It would be politically beyond stupid for us to do that right before the election, because certainly we’d get the blame."
The collapse of Johnson's plan Wednesday means Congress will spend its next seven working days trying to hammer out a deal that can pass both chambers. Lawmakers are scheduled to return to their districts for the month of 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 the extension that was sure to fail.
There are some signs that lawmakers may successfully fund the government – or at least kick the can down the road. Despite the House's failure on Wednesday to pass a government funding package, Senate Republicans and Democrats are much more aligned. Senate leaders support a shorter extension that would end in mid- to late December, in order to allow lawmakers to negotiate funding levels with full knowledge of the next presidential 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., said on 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."
GOP Whip Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., said the chamber would start working on its own funding deal if the House can't pass something by the end of the week. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, the top Republican on the Senate Appropriations committee, said Tuesday that process has not yet begun, but "time is growing very short."
What happens in a government shutdown?
During a government shutdown , federal agencies that are classified as "nonessential" are sent home and paid once the government reopens. "Essential" workers – those necessary to keep the most crucial elements of the federal government functioning – would keep working and receive their pay.
Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid benefits are considered essential and would continue, though it might be harder to get through to representatives for assistance during the shutdown. Other key benefit programs, such as military veterans programs and food programs would also continue.
The U.S. military and federal law enforcement agencies including the FBI, DEA, and prison staff, as well as the Secret Service, Coast Guard and border security agents would also keep working.
National parks and monuments would close to the public and it may be harder to get other government services, like assistance with passports and visas, during a closure. Childcare programs like Head Start would be left without funding
Airport security and air-traffic controllers would keep working, but there could be airline delays due to absenteeism.
Sudiksha Kochi contributed.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Will Congress dodge a government shutdown? Funding push fails in the House over controversial voting bill
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