The US government could halt non-essential functions weeks before the Nov. 5 presidential election as congressional Democrats dig in against a House Republican spending bill that would enact more stringent proof-of-citizenship rules for voting.  Dems would do anything to cheat and hold on to power.

     House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has included wording from the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act in the lower chamber’s pending continuing resolution — which must pass by Sept. 30 to keep DC’s lights on — at the urging of former President Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee.  Members of Congress returned to Capitol Hill Monday from their August recess — with Democratic leaders calling the SAVE Act unnecessary and likely to deter voting, and Republicans pointing out past bipartisan support and saying it’s currently too difficult to verify voters’ citizenship status.

     In addition to drawing stiff opposition from Democrats in both chambers and the White House, which called the voting provision a “poison pill,” the House GOP package — which would fund the government through March 28 — has failed to pacify Republican fiscal hawks who loathe temporary spending bills. Every fiscal year, which starts on Oct. 1, Congress must funding the government either through 12 separate appropriations bills or via a so-called continuing resolution, or CR.  

     Trump, 78, helped redirect the debate to election rules — and adding the controversial provision means Democrats can’t be counted on to help the bill pass the House and can block the legislation in the Senate.  “I would shut down the government in a heartbeat if they don’t get it,” Trump said in a recent interview. “It should be in the bill. And if it’s not in the bill, you want to close it up. So I’m not there but, you know, I have influence.” As president, Trump led the US into a 35-day partial shutdown in late 2018 over funding demands for a US-Mexico border wall, which the then-president ultimately financed with redirected defense appropriations. A pre-election partial shutdown would likely spark an intense blame game due to the possibility of federal workers missing paychecks and the closure of public facilities such as national parks. Five Democrats voted in favor of the SAVE Act when it came up for a vote in July. The proposal requires that people registering to vote present state officials with documents that prove their citizenship — including passports, state-issued REAL IDs that indicate a person’s citizenship or naturalization certificates.