The House on Wednesday rejected Speaker Mike Johnson's proposal that would have linked temporary funding for the federal government with a mandate that states require proof of citizenship when people register to vote. Next steps on government funding are uncertain. Lawmakers are not close to completing work on the dozen annual appropriations bills that will fund federal agencies during the next fiscal year, so they'll need to approve a stopgap measure to prevent a partial shutdown when that budget year begins Oct.
1. The vote was 220-202. Now, Johnson will likely pursue a Plan B to avoid a partial shutdown, the reports, though he was not ready before the vote to share details of such a proposal.
Donald Trump weighed in again just hours before the vote, seemingly encouraging House Republicans to let a partial government shutdown begin at the end of the month unless they get the proof of citizenship mandate, referred to in the House as 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 posted on Truth Social. Requiring new voters to provide proof of citizenship has become a leading election-year priority for Republicans raising the specter of noncitizens voting in the US, even though it's already illegal to do so and research has shown that such voting is rare.
Wednesday's vote was an embarrassing defeat for Johnson, per , who had pulled the bill from consideration last.