US House Republicans introduce three-month emergency bill to avert shutdown By Reuters

By Bo Erickson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson introduced a three-month emergency funding bill on Sunday that excludes an immigration-related measure demanded by Donald Trump, as lawmakers aim to avoid a partial government shutdown at the end of the month.

Johnson laid out the plan in a letter to colleagues released just eight days before the government’s current $1.2 trillion in discretionary funding expires on Sept. 30. The chamber will attempt to vote on the measure on Wednesday, according to a source with knowledge of the plan.

If nothing is done, thousands of federal workers will be sent home and much of government activity will grind to a halt, weeks before the November 5 election.

The proposal, which excludes a Trump administration push to impose new requirements that people show proof of citizenship to register to vote, is in line with what Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer has advocated, a basic extension of government funding through December. It runs through Dec. 20.

“As history has taught us and current polls confirm, shutting down the government less than 40 days before a fateful election would be an act of political malpractice,” Johnson said in the letter.

The Republican-controlled House of Representatives on Wednesday rejected Johnson’s earlier proposal for a six-month extension of funding, including the voter registration measure. Democrats and pro-democracy advocates called the measure unnecessary because it is already illegal for noncitizens to vote in federal elections.

Congress faces an even more important deadline on Jan. 1. By then, lawmakers must raise the nation’s debt ceiling or risk defaulting on more than $35 trillion in federal debt.