September 25, 2024
I have two piece of information you’re going to want to know about.
We’re not going to have a government shutdown in five days — but it wasn’t without a little drama —which I’ll fill you in on. And the other piece of information has to do with congress’s schedule. And I’m pretty sure you’re not going to be happy about that.
So let’s start with the easiest information first.
Both the house and the senate passed a continuing resolution to keep the government open until December 20th.
In the Senate the bill overwhelmingly passed 78 to 18.
But in the House, there was a little more drama.
The final vote was 341 to 82. Democrats pushed this bill over the finish line 209. Democrats voted yes and 132 Republicans voted yes. All of the 82 no votes came from Republicans. 9 house members did not vote. You may be thinking — that’s kinda strange if Republicans control the House, and Speaker Johnson is the one behind this — why did all those Republicans vote no? Two reasons — one because Republicans did not get the budget cuts they wanted and two — they voted no because the GOP backed SAVE Act was not attached. The SAVE Act is a bill that would have required voters to show proof of citizenship before they’re allowed to register to vote or ask for a mail ballot. Obviously federal law already says — you have to be a US citizen to vote and if you’re not a citizen and you try to vote it’s a felony. Despite that — former President Trump explicitly supported the SAVE Act. He was such a big supporter of it that he told Republican lawmakers they should vote against this continuing resolution and shut the government down as a way to demand that the SAVE Act gets included. Obviously, that move failed today — when a majority of the House Republican agreed with Speaker Johnson who said shutting the government down this close to an election would be an act of political malpractice.
Now this bill will go to President Biden’s desk for signature. But this isn’t over. We are going to be right back here after the election facing another government shutdown on December 20th. So not only are we going to be dealing with election fall out, but congress will also be fighting over how to fund the United States government.
Now — the other piece of information you should know. This is the last thing congress is doing before the election. Yes. You heard me correctly. The house and the senate are both now on recess until November 12th. This gives lawmakers time to go home and campaign because all house members are up for reelection in November and 34 Senators are up for reelection.
