Washington: US lawmakers rejected a Republican government funding plan Wednesday amid divisions within the party, with former president Donald Trump calling for a forced shutdown unless certain demands are met.
With government funding set to expire at the end of September, the bill was voted down in a 220-202 vote, as some House Republicans joined Democrats to oppose it.
Congress needs a stopgap bill known as a “continuing resolution” to keep the government running past November’s presidential election, but the parties are nowhere near agreement on a full-year budget.
The six-month extension proposed Wednesday would have punted the shutdown deadline into March 2025, when the next president would already be in the Oval Office.
The draft also included the SAVE Act, a Trump-backed measure that requires proof of citizenship when registering to vote in federal elections.
But President Joe Biden’s administration, worried about eligible voters being blocked from voter rolls or otherwise deterred, opposes the act.
It noted that non-citizen voting is already illegal and that there is no evidence it happens.
A government shutdown would see the closure of federal agencies and national parks, limiting public services and furloughing millions of workers without pay just weeks before the election. — AFP
