FILE - Speaker of the House Mike Johnson speaks during a news conference in Washington, May 7, 2024. On Tuesday, he vowed to press ahead with requiring proof of citizenship for new voters as part of a bill to avoid a partial government shutdown in three weeks.
House speaker pushes funding bill that includes proof of citizenship mandate
washington —
House Speaker Mike Johnson vowed Tuesday to press ahead with requiring proof of citizenship for new voters as part of a bill to avoid a partial government shutdown in three weeks, though the measure appeared likely to be voted down.
Democrats overwhelmingly oppose the measure. Enough Republicans were also coming out against the bill, though for different reasons, that its prospects of passing the House appeared dim. Even if it does pass the House on Wednesday, the bill would go nowhere in the Senate.
Johnson said the issue of election security is too critical to ignore, though research has shown that voting by non-citizens is extremely rare. It's also clear that Republicans see value in making House Democrats take another vote on the issue. The House approved a bill with the proof of citizenship mandate back in July
"If you have a few thousand illegals participate in the election in the wrong place, you can change the makeup of Congress and you can affect the presidential election," Johnson said. "The American people understand that."
The first test for the stopgap spending bill came Tuesday with a 209-206 vote that kept it moving ahead. But some Republicans who have said they will oppose the bill on final passage allowed it to proceed.
The measure includes a six-month extension of federal funding to keep agencies and programs operating through March 28.
But Democrats want a shorter-term extension so that the current Congress will set full-year spending levels for fiscal 2025 rather than the next president and Congress. They also want the proof of citizenship mandate stripped out of the bill, saying it's unnecessary because states already have effective safeguards in place to verify voters' eligibility and maintain accurate voter rolls.
"Is it any surprise that the speaker's purely partisan CR seems to be running into trouble?" Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said, using Washington parlance for the short-term continuing resolution needed to prevent a shutdown. "The answer is very simple. The House should stop wasting time on a CR proposal that cannot become law."
Schumer called on Johnson to consult with Democratic leaders and the White House on a bipartisan package that can pass both chambers.
A few House Republicans have also come out against the bill. Some won't vote for any continuing resolution. They want Congress to return to passing the dozen annual appropriations bills individually. Others say the continuing resolution funds programs at levels they consider inappropriate at a time of nearly $2 trillion annual deficits.
"I'm a firm no on bankrupting the nation and a yes on election integrity," said Representative Cory Mills in announcing his opposition.
Representative Tim Burchett said Republican leadership was asking him to vote for what he called "a Nancy Pelosi-Schumer budget."
"I just think that's a bad idea," Burchett said.
Republicans can afford to lose only four votes from their ranks if every Democrat votes against the bill.
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump on Tuesday seemingly encouraged a government shutdown if Republicans in the House and Senate "don't get assurances on Election Security." He said on the social media platform Truth Social that they should not go forward with a continuing resolution without such assurances.
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell disagreed when asked about Trump's post.
"Shutting down the government is always a bad idea, no matter what time of the year it is," McConnell said.
House Republicans met behind closed doors Tuesday morning to discuss the path forward. Representative Jim Jordan, a co-founder of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, told colleagues "this is the best fight we've ever had," said Representative Kevin Hern.
By holding another vote on the proof of citizenship requirement for voter registration, House Republicans are making Democrats in competitive swing districts take another vote on the issue ahead of the election. Last time, five Democrats sided with Republicans in support of the requirement. And their votes this time will be highly scrutinized.
Lawmakers said no plan B was discussed for government funding and that Johnson was determined to hold a vote regardless of the likely outcome.
"This is important to him," said Representative Ralph Norman. "This is the hill to die on."
Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, right, speaks as former President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump listens during a presidential debate at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Sept. 10, 2024.
Harris, Trump spar from start of their presidential debate
U.S. Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican former President Donald Trump had never met until their presidential debate Tuesday night, but immediately started sparring in a pivotal encounter leading up to the national election on November 5.
The two candidates shook hands at the outset, took their places behind lecterns on a stage at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia and then started assailing each other.
They feuded about the U.S. economy, abortion rights for American women, immigration at the U.S. border with Mexico, the Israeli war against Hamas militants in Gaza, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the January 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol as Congress certified that Trump had lost the 2020 election.
Referring to the 2020 election that Trump lost to President Joe Biden, Harris said, “Donald Trump was fired by 81 million people. He has a very difficult time processing that.”
Trump recently said he lost the election “by a whisker,” but on the debate stage Tuesday, he said it was a sarcastic remark and refused to acknowledge the legitimacy of the 2020 outcome.
“We are a failing nation,” Trump said. “We are in serious decline, and we’re laughed at all over the world.’’
In a snap poll after the 90-minute debate, CNN said its survey showed Harris had won the encounter by a 63-37% margin.
In addition to that quick assessment favoring Harris, the world’s top pop singer, Taylor Swift, endorsed the Democrat as the debate ended.
Standing a short distance away from each other, the two candidates shook their heads at each other’s comments, with Harris all but laughing out loud at some of Trump’s remarks. ABC News anchors David Muir and Linsey Davis gamely tried to control the flow of the encounter, failing at times.
Biden stumbled badly in a June debate with Trump and within a month ended his campaign as he endorsed Harris, his second-in-command.
On Tuesday, Harris, a former local criminal prosecutor in San Francisco and attorney general in California accustomed to tough courtroom encounters with defense attorneys, repeatedly baited Trump with insults.
At one point, she told him that his staunchest supporters at his political rallies often left early because they were bored with his speeches.
He described her as a Marxist, saying she was taught well by her father, a leftist economist. “This is a radical left liberal,” Trump said of Harris.
She recited her middle-class upbringing where her mother saved money for years before having the wherewithal to buy a house when she was a teenager.
Meanwhile, Harris said Trump was handed $400 million by his father “on a silver platter and then filed for bankruptcy six times.”
Trump assailed Biden and Harris’ handling of the U.S. economy, the world’s largest, saying the U.S. is becoming “Venezuela on steroids.” She said his plan for imposing up to 20% tariffs on imported foreign goods would prove to be a “Trump sales tax” for American consumers.
Debating the issues
The Debate
AP
Trump and Harris sparred from the start of their presidential debate
Trump often brags about appointing the Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe v. Wade
Former President Donald Trump says decisions on access to abortions and cutoffs limiting when the procedure can be performed should be left to the states.
AP
Abortion
Harris is the Democrats' most visible champion of abortion rights
Vice President Kamala Harris has called on Congress to pass legislation guaranteeing in federal law abortion access, a right that stood for nearly 50 years before being overturned by the Supreme Court.
Abortion
“The government, and Donald Trump certainly, should not be telling a woman what to do with her body.”
— Vice President Kamala Harris,
during the presidential debate
Trump refuses to accept his 2020 loss to Biden, hasn't committed to accepting 2024 results
Trump has repeatedly promised to pardon the Jan. 6 defendants. He has vowed to overhaul the Justice Department and FBI “from the ground up.” He has also vowed to appoint a special prosecutor to go after Biden.
Reuters
Democracy and rule of law
Harris has decried Trump as a threat to the nation's democracy
Harris has leaned heavily into her personal background as a prosecutor and contrasted that with Trump being found guilty of 34 felony counts in a New York hush money case and in being found liable for fraudulent business practices and sexual abuse in civil court.
Democracy and rule of law
“I had nothing to do with that other than they asked me to make a speech. I showed up for a speech.”
— Former President Donald Trump,
during the presidential debate
AFP
AP
Immigration
Harris endorses comprehensive immigration reform
President Joe Biden made Harris his administration’s point person on the root causes of migration. Trump now blames Harris for a situation at the U.S.-Mexico border. Harris has countered that Trump worsened the situation by killing a bipartisan Senate compromise.
AP
Immigration
Trump promises to mount the largest domestic deportation in U.S. history
Trump says he will revive the travel ban that originally targeted citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries. He will seek to end birthright citizenship for people born in the U.S. whose parents are in the country illegally.
Immigration
“[Immigrants] are taking over the towns. They're taking over buildings. They're going in violently. These are the people that she and Biden let into our country. And they're destroying our country.”
— Former President Donald Trump,
during the presidential debate
AFP
AP
NATO and Ukraine
Harris praises Biden's efforts to rebuild alliances unraveled by Trump, particularly NATO
The Biden administration has pledged unceasing support for Ukraine against Russia’s invasion. The administration has maintained that U.S. assistance is critical because Russian President Vladimir Putin will not stop at invading Ukraine.
AP
NATO and Ukraine
Trump has repeatedly taken issue with U.S. aid to Ukraine
Trump has assailed NATO member nations for failing to hit military spending targets. He said this year, he would not only refuse to defend nations that don’t hit those targets, but “would encourage” Russia “to do whatever the hell they want” to countries that are “delinquent.”
Here’s a look at other presidential debates in history that shifted the direction of the campaign. | Read more
Source: AP
She blamed him for the end to a constitutional right to abortion with his appointment of three conservative justices to the U.S. Supreme Court. He said that with the 2022 ruling, voters in individual states could now decide the issue.
“The government and Trump should not be telling” women what to do with their bodies, Harris said.
Trump blamed Harris as part of the Biden administration’s failure to control the masses of migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. Trump has said he plans to deport 11 million or more undocumented migrants living in the U.S. but twice dodged Muir’s question of how he would arrest people and send them back to their home countries.
The former president repeatedly answered unrelated questions with comments about Harris’ handling of the border, with Republicans calling her the “border czar” because Biden tasked her to help determine the root causes of why people leave their Central American homes to trek to the United States.
Trump made the outlandish claim that Haitian migrants in the Midwestern city of Springfield, Ohio, were stealing their neighbors’ cats and dogs and killing them for food.
Muir rebuked Trump and said the city’s manager had assured ABC News the claim was not true.
Trump claimed that neither Russia’s invasion of Ukraine nor the shock Hamas attack last October 7 on Israel would have occurred if he were president. He said that if elected, he would solve both conflicts before he even takes office next January but did not say how.
Harris retorted, “If Donald Trump were president, (Russian President Vladimir) Putin would be sitting in Kyiv right now with his eyes on the rest of Europe.”
Trump twice refused to say that he wants Ukraine to win the war, only that he wants the war ended to prevent more bloodshed.
Standing a short distance away from each other, the two candidates shook their heads at each other’s comments, with Harris all but laughing out loud at some of Trump’s remarks. ABC News anchors David Muir and Linsey Davis gamely tried to control the flow of the encounter, failing at times.
Tens of millions of Americans were likely watching what could be the only debate of the campaign. The faceoff took place eight weeks before Election Day but only days ahead of when early voting starts in some of the country’s 50 states.
On the debate stage, the rules for Harris and Trump were the same as at the debate Trump had with Biden in June, where Biden stumbled badly, leading him a month later to end his reelection bid as he fell behind Trump in national polling.
Trump and Harris’ microphones were muted when the other was speaking and they were not allowed to pose questions to each other.
But that did not stop them from interrupting each other. There was no live audience listening to the debate.
It was the first presidential debate for Harris. For Trump, it was his seventh over three presidential election cycles since 2016.
Speaking to reporters after the debate, Republican Senator Tom Cotton questioned why Harris has not worked to implement her policy proposals during her time as vice president.
"Kamala Harris wouldn't answer questions about what she's going to do for the American people and kept trying to shift onto other topics. Understandably, Donald Trump defended himself, but what he did the best job of is explaining that things were good when he was president and they have not been good for the last four years."
Democratic Senator Chris Murphy said it was Trump who failed to explain what he would bring to a new term in office.
"The real question is, what does Donald Trump stand for? You can have a conversation about how some of Kamala Harris' positions have changed, as all of our positions have changed over the years based on new information, or we can ask ourselves did Donald Trump articulate a single plan tonight to help the American people? Besides his reiteration of his belief that we should build a wall with Mexico, I don't think he talked about one single plan -- no healthcare plan, no housing plan, no plan to increase wages."
Democratic Congressman Ted Lieu told VOA Khmer that Trump is weaker on foreign policy than Harris, and that Trump is "friendly to dictators."
"Donald Trump has this weird relationship where if Putin flatters Donald Trump, Donald Trump gives away the store to Vladimir Putin. In contrast, the Biden-Harris administration built up this entire coalition to stop Vladimir Putin in Ukraine, and the Biden-Harris administration has built up an incredible alliance of countries in the Indo-Pacific to push back against aggression," Lieu said.
Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz told VOA Khmer that Trump won the debate by highlighting Harris' "dangerously liberal policies."
"President Trump did his job to show people that he is the change agent in this election. President Trump reflected the economic anxiety of the American people, the concern the American people have over their safety and over their ability to live in a world that isn't going to devolve into World War III," Gaetz said.
National polling shows the contest to be close, adding to the importance of the debate and making it crucial for both candidates to make their best case to sway the small number of voters who haven’t made up their mind. At stake, returning Trump to the White House after he lost reelection in 2020 to Biden or elevating Harris, Biden’s second-in-command.
Democrats coalesced around Harris’ candidacy when Biden dropped his reelection bid and endorsed Harris as his successor. While Biden trailed Trump when he ended his campaign, Harris has edged ahead of Trump in numerous national polls by 2 or 3 percentage points.
But a New York Times-Siena College poll released Sunday showed Trump with a 48-47% lead nationally, even as the newspaper said Harris was narrowly ahead in an average of multiple polls in three crucial battleground states: Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania. The two candidates were tied in four other crucial states: Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and North Carolina.
The seven highly contested states are expected to play an outsized role in determining the outcome of the election because the U.S. does not pick its president and vice president by the national popular vote.
Rather, the election is 50 state-by-state contests, with electors for the winning ticket in all but two states casting all their votes in the Electoral College for either Harris and her vice presidential running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, or Trump and his ticket mate, Ohio Senator JD Vance. The number of Electoral College votes for each state is based on population, so the most populous states hold the most sway.
The Times-Siena poll showed that the debate stakes were particularly high for Harris in introducing herself to the American public, with 28% of those surveyed saying they needed to know more about her, while only 9% said the same about Trump.
Trump, 78, has at times on the campaign trail seemed to miss running against Biden, 81. He has yet to develop a steady line of attack on Harris, 59, although on debate night he attacked Harris on every question posed by the ABC anchors.
If elected, she would be the first woman and first person of South Asian descent to serve as the U.S. president, and the second Black person after Barack Obama.
