How drama over illegal immigrants voting in the election could launch the government into SHUTDOWN
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Congress is set to return to D.C. next month to another major spending headache, and the House Freedom Caucus is ready with its hardline demands.
Lawmakers face a September 30 deadline to renew funding for all government agencies or else there will be a government shutdown.
Further complicating matters, the roughly 50-member ultra-conservative Freedom Caucus is demanding that any deal to reauthorize spending include a ban to keep illegal immigrants from voting.
They specifically want a piece of conservative legislation, the SAVE Act, attached which would require proof of citizenship to vote in the presidential election.
But the inclusion of the bill would prompt an outcry from Democrats, who would never support such legislation.
And because Republicans have a slim majority and need all GOP members (including the Freedom Caucus) to vote for a spending package, a government shutdown would be almost certain.
Congress is set to return to another major spending headache in November, and the House Freedom Caucus is ready with its hardline demands
'The House Freedom Caucus believes that House Republicans should return to Washington to continue the work of passing all 12 appropriations bills to cut spending and advance our policy priorities,' the group said in a new statement of policy.
'Furthermore, the Continuing Resolution should include the SAVE Act – as called for by President Trump – to prevent non-citizens from voting to preserve free and fair elections in light of the millions of illegal aliens imported by the Biden-Harris administration over the last four years.'
They fear that the migrants would vote for Kamala Harris in the upcoming election, giving a boost to the Democratic ticket.
As a result, the Republicans are promoting the SAVE Act, which aims to force election officials to verify citizenship in elections. It already passed the House, with the help of just five Democrats, but was certain to die in the Senate.
The bill would close any loopholes that allow people to register to vote without proof of US citizenship or photo ID, require all 50 states to remove any unlawful immigrants from their voter rolls, add penalties of up to five years in prison for election officials who register non-citizens to vote and require proof of citizenship for those who vote overseas.
Most voting ballots require some kind of proof of identity to register to vote, such as a driver's license. Not all of those proofs of ID require citizenship - the bill would specifically require ID requirements like passports or birth certificates.
Although instances illegal migrants voting in elections is extremely rare, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin recently disclosed that thousands have tried to enroll in his state, heightening fears.
Virginia found and removed some 6,000 unlawful immigrants on its voter rolls from 2022 to 2024, according to the Republican. Last week he signed an executive order aimed at preventing them from registering to vote.
In what has become typical fashion, it looks all but inevitable that Congress will blow past its government funding deadline and need a short-term extension of funding at 2024 levels.
The short-term 'fix' to keep the government running is called a 'continuing resolution,' or CR.
The Freedom Caucus is onboard with a CR, believing a short-term extension could kick the funding deadline into the next term, at which time they hope Donald Trump will be president.
Migrants, mostly from Central America and Venezuela, rest on their way to the United States to escape poverty and violence on the outskirts of Huixtla, Chiapas State, Mexico,
But it's a risky move. The House could fall into Democratic hands at that point.
Other traditional Republicans have insisted the House must push forward with passing 12 separate appropriations bills - one to fund each agency of government.
The House has passed six appropriations bills. It's scrapped plans to vote on others after running into policy disagreements.
The Senate hasn't passed any. Even if both chambers passed all 12 bills, they'd then have to come together and negotiate 12 bills that could get a majority vote in both chambers.
