US lawmakers on Wednesday rejected a Republican government funding plan, with former US president Donald Trump calling for a forced shutdown unless some demands are met.
With government funding set to expire at the end of this month, the bill was voted down in a 220-202 vote in the US House of Representatives, as some Republicans joined Democrats to oppose it.
The US Congress needs a stopgap bill known as a “continuing resolution” to keep the government running past November’s presidential election, but the parties are nowhere near agreement on a full-year budget. The six-month extension proposed on Wednesday would have punted the shutdown deadline into March next year, when the next president would already be in the Oval Office.
Photo: AFP
The draft also included the SAVE Act, a measure that requires proof of citizenship when registering to vote in federal elections.
However, the administration of US President Joe Biden opposes the 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 ahead of the vote.
A government shutdown would see the closure of federal agencies and national parks, limiting public services and furloughing millions of workers without pay just weeks before the election.
Trump lobbied US House Speaker Mike Johnson to add the election measure to the funding package.
Johnson called off a vote on the funding plan last week as it became increasingly clear how unpopular it was with members of his party.
In a statement on Wednesday, House Appropriations Committee ranking member Rosa DeLauro said: “Once again, the House Republican majority has failed at its most basic tasks.”
“We have seven legislative days to keep the government open,” DeLauro added.
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