The Republican-led House of Representatives is back in session, just in time to push a short-term spending bill that ties six months of government funding to racist legislation that would require proof of citizenship for people registering to vote. Led by Speaker Mike Johnson, the spending proposal is the GOP’s latest attempt to use the specter of a government shutdown to score political points with Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.
The House Freedom Caucus is pushing the stopgap bill in the hopes that Trump wins in November and Republicans grow their House majority, enabling them to pass steep spending cuts and increasingly extreme legislation with the support of a new administration. For his part, Trump has openly encouraged Republicans to shut the government down if the latest spending bill doesn’t include the proof-of-citizenship provision.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries called the proposal “unserious and unacceptable” in a letter to his Democratic colleagues and made it clear that it is a politically motivated stunt.
“In order to avert a GOP-driven government shutdown that will hurt everyday Americans, Congress must pass a short-term continuing resolution that will permit us to complete the appropriations process during this calendar year and is free of partisan policy changes inspired by Trump’s Project 2025,” Jeffries said, referring to the extremist government blueprint that was engineered by more than 100 of Trump’s minions.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer seconded Jeffries’ sentiment in a “Dear Colleague” letter on Sunday.
“Despite Republican bluster, that is how we’ve handled every funding bill in the past, and this time should be no exception,” Schumer wrote. “We will not let poison pills or Republican extremism put funding for critical programs at risk.”
To that end, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin sent a letter to the chairs and ranking members of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees warning that further uncertainty around budgets could impair our military.
“These actions subject Service members and their families to unnecessary stress, empower our adversaries, misalign billions of dollars, damage our readiness, and impede our ability to react to emergent events,” Austin said.
Johnson doesn’t have room for much political theater. His thin House majority is further weakened by extremists like Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, who voiced his dissent on social media and vowed to vote against the proposed spending bill.
“I’m voting Hell No on the ‘Continuing Appropriations and Other Matter Act’ this week,” Massie wrote. “I don’t care which bright shiny object is attached to it, or which fake fight we start and won’t finish. Congress is spending our country into oblivion, and this bill doesn’t cut spending.”
Much like the voter ID laws pushed by conservatives, requiring proof of citizenship for newly registered voters promises to fix problems that don't exist. These laws are a shameless attempt to disenfranchise voters of color and weaken democracy.
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