Government Funding Bill: A Last-Minute Save or a Recipe for Disaster?

The clock is ticking down, and the federal government is on the verge of shutting down. With just a few days to go before the October 1 deadline, the House of Representatives is poised to vote on a three-month stopgap funding bill. The move comes after a deal was struck between Speaker Mike Johnson, top Democrats, and the White House to keep the government funded at current levels through December 20. The new funding bill, known as a continuing resolution (CR), is a significant departure from the earlier six-month funding bill that was torpedoed by a group of 14 House Republicans and nearly all Democrats. The SAVE Act, a provision that would have revised election law nationwide to require proof of citizenship to vote, has been stripped out of the new bill. The move has been met with relief from some Republicans, who fear that a government shutdown would be a disaster for their party. Swing-district Republicans, in particular, are urging their colleagues not to allow a shutdown just five weeks before Election Day.

"It's, in my opinion, galactically stupid to do a government shutdown even after an election. Before an election, it's even worse. It's self-immolating as a party if we do that right before an election," said Rep. Mike Garcia, R-Calif. However, not all Republicans are on board with the new funding bill. A faction of conservatives, including Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., a Trump ally and member of the far-right Freedom Caucus, have vowed to vote against the bill. "If it's a clean CR into the lame duck, I'm not gonna be supporting it," said Donalds. "This issue should be pushed to next year so the next president can, with his or her team, can figure out how we're going to manage the nation's finances going forward." The Senate, meanwhile, is preparing to step in if the House fails to pass the funding bill. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has taken steps to tee up a vote on a government funding bill, preparing the upper chamber to step in if needed. "We really now have some good news, there's a really good chance we can avoid the government shutdown," said Schumer.

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