House Republicans Defy Trump, Pass Government Funding Bill

WASHINGTON — The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday defied former President Donald Trump by approving a government funding bill without a crackdown on the imaginary threat of widespread voter fraud.

The legislation will now head to the other side of the Capitol, where senators are expected to approve it Wednesday evening, averting a government shutdown at the end of the month.

Trump has openly advocated for a government shutdown if Republicans omitted the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, a bill that would require Americans to show proof of citizenship when they register to vote.

“I would shut down the government in a heartbeat if they don’t get it and if they don’t get it in the bill,” Trump said last month.

Trump privately called on multiple House Republicans this week to push for new voting restrictions in the funding bill, multiple sources told The Hill on Wednesday. Adding such provisions to a funding bill would all but guarantee a shutdown, since Democrats would refuse to support the legislation.

It’s already illegal for noncitizens to vote, and they rarely do. Still, Trump has claimed without evidence that undocumented immigrants could sway November’s election.

Contrary to Trump, many Republicans have said that shutting down the government in October of an election year is a dumb idea.

“I’m still mystified anybody wants to do it, let alone five weeks before an election,” Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) told HuffPost on Wednesday.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) last week had the House vote on a resolution that paired government funding with the SAVE Act, but the bill failed, with almost all Democrats and 14 Republicans voting no.

“This has been the least productive Congress in modern history,” Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.) said before the vote on Wednesday. “The majority can’t even convince its own members to support its own bills.”

Johnson has echoed Trump’s false claims that undocumented immigrants are voting in large numbers. He suggested this week that he would not support certifying the election results on Jan. 6, 2025, if the election isn’t “fair.”

Asked Tuesday if he would certify a Trump loss, Johnson said, “If we have a free, fair and safe election, we’re going to follow the Constitution, absolutely.”