“We’ll be working on it all weekend,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said Wednesday, announcing the delay.
Johnson faces a rebellion from Republican lawmakers concerned about exceeding the cap. Budget Again and they want more Financial discipline.
This led to his failure to secure sufficient majority support among Republicans to pass a six-month extension of the government’s budget, without help from the Democratic minority in the House.
Must agree Congress On the 2025 budget by the end of September (the end of the fiscal year) to maintain funding for all services.
If this does not happen, there will be a “lockdown,” meaning millions of state employees will be placed on technical unemployment, some food aid will be suspended, and air traffic will be disrupted, among other services.
Another piece of legislation added to the budget under pressure from Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump would require voters to provide proof of citizenship when registering to vote in federal elections.
The former president, who wields enormous influence over House Republicans, threatened to shut down the government in a heartbeat if they don’t include it in the bill. Trump continues to assert without evidence that the 2020 election was rigged.
The Biden administration opposes the proposal. Trumpnoting that non-citizen voting is already illegal, and that there is no evidence of illegal immigrants participating in elections.
At least 10 Republicans opposed the proposal on Wednesday, and the Republican majority in the House of Representatives has only the margin of four votes to pass a bill without the help of opposition.
And in SenateThe Democratic caucus is considering giving Republicans in the House an ultimatum: either adopt a text that extends the budget deadline to the end of the year, or cause a “shutdown.”
With just two months to go before elections that will replace the entire House of Representatives, Republicans fear an unpopular “shutdown” that could jeopardize their chances of reelection.
Mike Johnson warned of the lack of an alternative plan in the event of failure to approve the extension, and he himself hopes to be re-elected in November, according to Agence France-Presse.
