Government shutdown averted, budget deal reached in Congress
Congress reached a funding deal Sunday that would avert a possible partial government shutdown and fund federal agencies for about another three months.
The new budget year begins Oct. 1, and the spending decided upon this weekend would extend funding into mid-December. A vote is expected later this week.
Proof of citizenship voting tie-in
Earlier, House Speaker Mike Johnson had tried to link a temporary funding plan with a mandate that would have required states to see proof of citizenship when people register to vote.
Federal law prohibits noncitizens from voting in federal elections but allows states to decide for local and state elections.
READ MORE: Can noncitizens vote? State-by-state laws
The tie-in was at the urging of the most conservative members of his party. But not all Republicans were on board, even as former President Donald Trump insisted on support for that package.
Fourteen Republicans opposed it in a vote last week, rejecting the proposal.
The effort had no chance in the Democratic-controlled Senate and was opposed by the White House anyway, but it did give Speaker Johnson a chance to show Trump and conservatives within his conference that he fought for their request.
The funding bill
FILE - A view of the U.S. Capitol during the sunrise on January 06, 2022 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
The final result passed Sunday is what Johnson called a "very narrow, bare-bones" plan that included "only the extensions that are absolutely necessary."
Temporary spending bills generally fund agencies at current levels, but some additional money was included to bolster the Secret Service, replenish a disaster relief fund and aid with the presidential transition, among other things.
"While this is not the solution any of us prefer, it is the most prudent path forward under the present circumstances," Johnson wrote in a letter to Republican colleagues obtained by The Associated Press. "As history has taught and current polling affirms, shutting the government down less than 40 days from a fateful election would be an act of political malpractice."
Congress now has the ability to put together a full-year spending bill after the Nov. 5 election, rather than push the responsibility to the next Congress and president.