House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisianna) announced on Tuesday that the House will move forward with a plan to vote on a partisan stopgap measure to keep the government funded this week, despite Democratic opposition and intra-party pushback that foiled a vote on the measure last week. Congress has until the end of the month to fund the government, making a short-term measure necessary to avoid a government shutdown. The plan is House Republican leadership’s opening move in the funding fight — a continuing resolution to keep the government funded through March 28th, while attaching a noncitizen voting bill that Democrats generally see as a nonstarter. The measure, known as the SAVE Act, is aimed at targeting the practice of illegal voting, which is exceedingly rare. It would require proof of citizenship to register to vote in federal elections. The legislation passed the House earlier this year, despite the fact that only U.S. citizens are eligible to vote in federal elections under current law. Democrats in the Senate made clear that the plan is dead on arrival in the upper chamber, and whether the legislation can even make it through the House remains to be seen. The addition of the voting measure is viewed as a sweetener for House conservatives who often oppose continuing resolutions to keep the government funded. Still, some have come out against the plan even after leadership took time to build support among the conference. Speaker Johnson spent the weekend calling members and trying to flip GOP defections to the yes column. But given Republicans’ very narrow 220-211 majority, and some members’ blanket opposition to short-term continuing resolutions it’s highly unlikely Johnson can push the package through the House. The White House, congressional Democrats and some Republicans are pushing for an even shorter-term bill that keeps the government open past the election, into December. That would buy bipartisan negotiators more time to strike a deal on fiscal year 2025 funding.
For today, the Senate is expected to complete consideration of the nomination of Mary Kathleen Costello to be United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and take up a Motion to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to Calendar S.4445, Right to IVF Act, upon reconsideration.
The House will convene for votes at 6:30 P.M. and is expected to take up 37 bills under suspension of the Rules.
