The Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives will vote on legislation on Wednesday that pairs a must-pass spending bill with tighter voting rules, setting up an election year clash with the Democratic-majority Senate that risks a partial government shutdown.
Congress must pass spending legislation before the start of the new fiscal year on Oct. 1 to avoid furloughing thousands of federal workers and shutting down a wide swath of government operations just weeks before the Nov. 5 election.
But lawmakers are at odds over an attached Republican voting bill that would require those registering to vote to provide proof of U.S. citizenship.
Spurred by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's false claims about election fraud, House Republicans say the bill is a necessary step to prevent people living in the country illegally from voting. For their part, Democrats say it aims to drive down voter participation. A 2017 study found 30 possible instances of noncitizens voting out of more than 25 million ballots cast.
It is not clear whether Republicans will even muster enough support to pass the bill out of the House. With a narrow 220-211 majority, Republicans have few votes to spare and some have said they will vote against it.
Posted by John3262005
4 Comments
Bruh, I have no fucking clue where my birth certificate is.
That’s a lot of words for government shutdown
How is this bill defining proof of citizenship? Official documents for that are birth certificate and passport, as well as other gov-issued citizenship docs. That would MASSIVELY suppress voter turnout. Even if this passed, there’s no way it could apply to THIS election. That’s changing the rules way too late and doesn’t provide time for people to gather the required documentation. Â
Republicans know this. They know it’s not tenable and has 0% chance of passing.
> Johnson said House Republicans were looking “to run the right bill at the right time on the right principle … We’re going to get the job done.”
Quite literally wrong on all accounts