House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters Wednesday that he was delaying a vote on a funding bill that would avert a government shutdown before the annual funding deadline of Sept. 30.
The temporary spending bill would keep federal agencies and programs funded for the next six months. However, Speaker Johnson also tied to it a bill that would have required people to show proof of citizenship in order to vote in federal elections — something critics say is unnecessary since it's already illegal for noncitizens to vote.
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Johnson said conversations on the spending bill will continue into the weekend. Democrats, meanwhile, say they want a short-term extension of the current spending bill, pushing a 2025 funding fight until after the November presidential election.
House Republicans' current plans to avert a shutdown have them on a collision course with Democrats, as any plan to keep the government open past the end of September will need to be bipartisan in order to pass the Republican-majority House, Democratic-majority Senate, and get a signature from President Joe Biden.
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If the government shuts down, hundreds of thousands of federal workers could be furloughed, and more could be required to indefinitely work without pay — though they would receive back-pay once the shutdown ends.
