Home Minority Chief Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) mentioned Thursday that Democrats will oppose any federal funding invoice that features conservative coverage riders pushed by former President Trump.
“Donald Trump has ordered extreme MAGA Republicans in the House to shut the government down unless they can jam parts of Trump’s Project 2025 agenda down the throats of the American people,” Jeffries mentioned throughout a press briefing on the Capitol.
“That’s a nonstarter.”
The remarks are a message to Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), who has insisted {that a} stopgap spending invoice should embrace a proposal referred to as the SAVE Act requiring proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections. Trump, in rallies and on social media, has demanded that the SAVE Act be included in any federal spending invoice Congress adopts earlier than November’s elections. He’s urging Republicans to close down the federal government if Democrats don’t agree.
“If Republicans don’t get the SAVE Act, and every ounce of it, they should not agree to a Continuing Resolution in any way, shape, or form,” Trump posted Wednesday evening on Fact Social.
Democrats are against the SAVE Act, saying it’s redundant, as a result of federal legislation already prohibits noncitizens from voting in federal elections. Additionally they argue that the brand new mandates would disenfranchise these voters who’re residents however don’t have prepared entry to the paperwork proving it. Jeffries referred to as it “a voter suppression bill.”
“Current law is very clear: What is so complicated about the fact that only citizens, under the United States Constitution and federal law, are permitted to vote in federal elections?” Jeffries mentioned.
The dynamics have left Johnson in a pickle, squeezed between the calls for of Democrats, whose assist shall be mandatory to forestall a authorities shutdown, and people of Trump, whose assist Johnson would possibly want to stay atop the Home GOP convention subsequent yr.
If Congress fails to behave, massive components of the federal government will shut down on Oct. 1.
Within the early phases of the controversy, Johnson sided squarely with Trump, pushing laws that mixed a six-month extension of 2024 funding with the SAVE Act. However final week, Johnson was pressured to scrap a scheduled vote on that bundle within the face of opposition inside his personal convention.
The objections got here from three blocs: deficit hawks cautious of the spending ranges, protection hawks against a six-month freeze in Pentagon funding and weak lawmakers anxious about the specter of a shutdown so near Election Day.
On Wednesday night, Johnson lastly introduced the invoice to the ground, however failed to alter the minds of many GOP dissenters: The measure failed 202-220, with 14 Republicans voting towards it. (None of these Republicans voiced considerations with the SAVE Act, which had handed by way of the Home earlier within the yr with all GOP lawmakers in assist.)
How the Speaker plans to proceed stays unclear. On Thursday morning, he huddled in his workplace within the Capitol with different GOP leaders. However they emerged having made no ultimate choices about their fallback technique.
“We don’t have a plan yet,” mentioned Rep. Richard Hudson (R-N.C.), head of the Home GOP marketing campaign arm. “We’re at the beginning of the discussions.”
Jeffries mentioned he has not spoken with Johnson because the Republican stopgap invoice failed on the ground Wednesday night. However he mentioned their staffs are in fixed communication. And in previous talks with the Speaker, Jeffries mentioned his message has not strayed from his public statements demanding a shorter, three-month CR with out the brand new election guidelines.
“We will not let the American people be extorted by extreme MAGA Republicans who are trying to turn back the clock, undermine freedom and suppress the vote,” Jeffries mentioned.
The Home deadlock has raised the prospects that any stopgap funding invoice able to changing into legislation may need to originate within the Senate. Prepping for that state of affairs, Senate Majority Chief Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) introduced Thursday that he’ll start the method of bringing a seamless decision to the ground subsequent week if the Home logjam persists.
“By filing today, I’m giving the Senate maximum flexibility for preventing a shutdown,” he mentioned.
