Republicans fail to pass US spending bill that includes Trump-backed voting measure
House Speaker Mike Johnson must now decide how to proceed as a possible government shutdown looms
Republicans in the US House of Representatives failed on Wednesday to pass a funding bill that included a controversial voting measure backed by Donald Trump, complicating efforts to avert a possible government shutdown at the end of the month.
Despite the urging of Trump, the Republican candidate in the November 5 presidential election, House Republicans were unable to muster enough votes to pass the package and send it on the Democratic-controlled Senate. With Democrats united in opposition, the bill failed by a vote of 202-220.
House Speaker Mike Johnson now must decide whether to abandon the voting bill and pass a straightforward spending bill that would extend government funding into the new financial year that starts on October 1.
Democrats in the House and the Senate say they are eager to pass a stopgap spending bill that would avert a disruptive shutdown that would furlough hundreds of thousands of federal workers.
The Republicans’ voting bill would require Americans to provide proof of citizenship when they register to vote and require states to purge non-citizens from their registration lists.
Trump has made illegal immigration a central issue in his re-election bid and has falsely claimed that Democrats are registering illegal immigrants to vote, the latest in a long line of lies about election fraud.
