Democrats demand short-term spending bill, refuse to consider SAVE Act ahead of looming government shut down

Democrats in Washington, DC, are attempting to secure Republican support for a short-term spending bill that would keep the government funded until mid-December. The Biden administration has backed this three-month stopgap measure as part of a strategy to gain control over the current spending debate with Republicans in Congress, who are pushing for a six-month funding bill, according to a report by Axios.

If Congress and the White House fail to agree on a funding bill by September 30, the end of the fiscal year, the federal government will face a shutdown. Such an event could have significant political repercussions for either party just weeks before the upcoming election. The three-month funding bill, however, would require Congress to return for a lame-duck session after the election results are in. At that point, lawmakers would have a clearer picture of which party will control Congress and the White House in January. 

The new Congress is set to begin on January 3. Democrats are also seeking to avoid putting Kamala Harris, should she win the presidency, in a difficult position with a tight funding deadline upon assuming office on January 20. According to Axios, the White House has been in talks with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries to coordinate their strategy in negotiations with Republicans.

"As we have said repeatedly, avoiding a government shutdown requires bipartisanship, not a bill drawn up by one party," Schumer said in a statement on Friday, alongside Senate Appropriations Chair Patty Murray.

Meanwhile, House Speaker Mike Johnson has instructed members to prepare for a vote on the six-month spending plan this week. Johnson is considering attaching key Republican objectives to the spending bill that have resulted in pushback from Democrats, such as the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which requires proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections.

Johnson said House Republicans are "taking a critically important step to keep the federal government funded and to secure our federal election process," NBC News reported.

"If Speaker Johnson drives House Republicans down this highly partisan path, the odds of a shutdown go way up, and Americans will know that the responsibility of a shutdown will be on the House Republicans’ hands," Schumer and Murray said in a joint statement Friday.