House Passes Stopgap Funding Bill, Sending Measure to Senate 👉 Updatem News

The continuing resolution does not include the SAVE Act, which would require proof of citizenship to register to vote.

WASHINGTON—The House on Sept. 25 approved a stopgap funding bill that would extend the deadline for a government shutdown to Dec. 20.

The legislation, which required a two-thirds majority to pass, cleared the lower chamber in a 341–82 vote. Eighty-two Republicans voted against the bill, while all Democrats backed it.

The bill now heads to the Senate, where it is expected to pass quickly as it has the support of Democratic leadership. The White House also approves the measure, meaning the bill will likely be signed well before the Sept. 30 funding deadline.

Aside from punting the deadline three months out, the bill, known as a “clean” continuing resolution due to its lack of controversial bill riders, includes $231 million in new funding for the Secret Service. It doesn’t include the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which would require proof of citizenship to register to vote.

Lawmakers plan on leaving town after passing the legislation, two days early due to Hurricane Helene.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) indicated that the Senate would consider the bill without amendments.

The White House also backed the resolution in a statement, saying, “The administration calls for swift passage of this bill in both chambers of the Congress to avoid a costly, unnecessary government shutdown and to ensure there is adequate time to pass full-year FY 2025 appropriations bills later this year.”

Former President Donald Trump, meanwhile, has expressed opposition to the passage of any continuing resolution without the SAVE Act.

“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 said in a post on Truth Social on Sept. 24.

Initially, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) pushed for the passage of a six-month continuing resolution that included the SAVE Act, but 206 Democrats and 14 Republicans voted down the legislation.

Several Republican critics who opposed the bill told The Epoch Times that their “no” vote was based on general opposition to stopgap measures, arguing that the proposal had no chance of making it through the Senate or being implemented in time for the upcoming election. They called instead for more meaningful changes to Washington economic policy.

Continuing resolutions themselves are deeply unpopular with a broad swath of House Republicans, even when they include potential concessions from Democrats.

Earlier in the week, Republican leaders hoped to bring the bill to the floor under the regular rules process, as suspension of the rules is equally unpopular with many Republicans.

However, the legislation was ultimately pulled from the House Rules Committee, likely due to concerns it would fail under conservative Republicans’ objections.

At a Sept. 24 press conference, Johnson expressed regret over the need for the continuing resolution but said Republicans had no choice and blamed the Senate for failing to work on appropriations.

“We loathe [continuing resolutions] as much as anyone,” the House speaker said. “But this is the situation that the Senate Democrat leadership put us in.”

So far, the House has passed five individual spending bills, but none have been taken up by the upper chamber, which has passed no appropriations.

Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.), who supported the plan with the SAVE Act attached, was understanding of Johnson’s position, but said he opposed the stripped-down version of the bill.

“I think the package last week was the item,” Donalds told reporters on Sept. 23. “Unfortunately, we have 14 of our colleagues that did not agree. I felt that was the wrong judgment on their part, and it leads us to where we are right now.”

Original News Source Link – Epoch Times

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