12/9/2024–|Last update: 12/9/202412:25 AM (Makkah Time)
The threat of a federal shutdown has resurfaced in the United States two months before the election, after a vote scheduled for Wednesday in Congress was postponed due to disagreements within the Republican majority on the issue. Presidential candidate Donald Trump has also threatened to block the government’s budget extension if voters are not required to provide proof of citizenship when registering to vote in the upcoming federal elections.
“We’ll be working on it all weekend,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said in announcing the adjournment yesterday.
Johnson faces a rebellion from Republican lawmakers who are concerned about breaching the budget ceiling again and want more fiscal discipline.
This led to his failure to secure sufficient majority support among Republicans to pass a 6-month extension of the government budget, without help from the Democratic minority in the House.
Congress must approve the 2025 budget by the end of September (the end of the US fiscal year) to keep all services funded.
If this does not happen, there will be a “government shutdown,” meaning millions of state employees will be put on technical unemployment, some food aid will be suspended, and air traffic will be disrupted, among other services.
If the budget extension is not agreed upon and the state enters a state of paralysis, i.e. a government shutdown, this will lead to the non-payment of salaries to the army, security personnel and public transport employees. It may also lead to the cessation of work of some departments and the freezing of some aid.
Trump is exacerbating the crisis
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.
President Joe Biden’s administration opposes Trump’s proposal, noting that non-citizen voting is already illegal and that there is no evidence that illegal immigrants participated in the election.
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 the opposition.
In the Senate, the Democratic majority is considering an ultimatum to Republicans in the chamber: 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, who himself hopes to be re-elected in November, warned that there was no alternative plan if the extension failed to pass.
