The House handed Speaker Mike Johnson an expected defeat Wednesday, voting down his stopgap, six-month funding bill that requires proof of citizenship to vote. 

“I’m already talking to colleagues about their many ideas. We have time to fix the situation,” Johnson said. Though most Republicans supported the push to again force Democrats to consider the SAVE Act, some were unwilling to test the politically dangerous waters of shuttering the government ahead of the election.

Congress has seven working days to avoid a partial government shutdown before the Oct. 1 deadline. Read Full Story

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Republicans on the House Administration Committee grilled a bipartisan panel of state officials Wednesday on how they will ensure safe and secure elections, as concerns about voter fraud in the 2020 election persist.

Secretaries of state from Arizona, Florida, Ohio, Michigan, New Mexico, and West Virginia appeared at the hearing titled “American Confidence in Elections: Looking Ahead to the 2024 General Election.” 

During the hearing’s opening statements, Republican secretaries of state focused on what procedures are already in place to ensure confidence, while their Democrat counterparts stressed that perpetuating false fraud claims could be dangerous and damaging to election integrity. Read Full Story

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House lawmakers are debating how to fund the government after Speaker Mike Johnson revealed his plan on Wednesday, which attaches the proof-of-citizenship voting bill SAVE Act. 

His proposal is not being met with unanimous support among some Republicans, particularly those facing tough reelection bids in toss-up districts, who feel a clean resolution might be the only way to avoid a government shutdown — a crucial move to defend Republican seats in Democratic-leaning districts.

In order for a clean continuing resolution to win approval by both houses of Congress, the Senate may insist on no policy riders attached.

The proposal to delay a government spending deal until next year comes as Johnson has faced pressure from those on his right flank to “use our leverage” to ensure Democrats cannot use Biden’s final months in a lame-duck period to push through a massive spending bill that advances the party’s agenda in hopes that former President Donald Trump wins the November presidential election. Read Full Story

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