Government shutdown again?

Worldtraveller said:

I don't honestly think at this point, it's even going that far. They are literally just acting out, and anything that they think makes the current administration look bad is, by definition, good. A decade ago, you might be right, but I don't even think there's any real grift going on. The gop is literally just hurting the country (and a lot of the people hurt are stupid enough to still vote for them).

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• House passes funding bills to avert partial government shutdown - ABC News
• Congress passes first package of spending bills just hours before shutdown deadline for key agencies - ABC News
• Senate passes 6 funding bills to avert partial government shutdown before midnight deadline - ABC News
• Biden signs a package of spending bills passed by Congress just hours before a shutdown deadline - ABC News

In all, 52 new anti-LGBTQ+ provisions were proposed – with 51 suffering defeat. The defeated provisions included those that would have restricted medically necessary health care for transgender people, given license to engage in taxpayer-funded discrimination against married same-sex couples, blocked nondiscrimination and DE&I efforts, and further stigmatized the LGBTQ+ community.

Despite this failed attempt by House Republicans to use the appropriations process to attack LGBTQ+ people, media outlets have reported Speaker Mike Johnson is attempting to claim victory by touting a mean-spirited but limited provision that would continue to allow LGBTQ+ pride flags to be present in almost all cases at embassies except being flown over the exterior of the building. It poses absolutely no limits to other displays of a pride flag, hosting LGBTQ+ events or embassy employees’ ability to display Pride flags in their work spaces.

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• H.Res.1102 - 118th Congress (2023-2024): Providing for the concurrence by the House in the Senate amendment to H.R. 2882, with an amendment. | Congress.gov | Library of Congress
• Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives - Vote Details - Roll Call 102 | Bill Number: H. Res. 1102
• House sends Senate bill to avert shutdown | The Hill
• H.R.2882 - 118th Congress (2023-2024): Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024 | Congress.gov | Library of Congress
• U.S. Senate: U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 118th Congress - 2nd Session - On the Motion (Motion to Concur in the House Amendment to the Senate Amendment to H.R. 2882 )
• Senate sends $1.2T spending bill to Biden’s desk in late night vote | The Hill
• $1.2T bipartisan spending deal signed into law: Five things to know | The Hill
• Biden Signs $1.2 Trillion Spending Package, Ending Government Shutdown Fears - The New York Times - "The president signed a $1.2 trillion spending package that passed early on Saturday morning, narrowly avoiding a shutdown."

The vote is also a win of sorts for Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), who staved off a shutdown, got the package passed despite intense conservative criticism, and avoided having to pass a massive, end-of-year omnibus spending bill, which conservatives abhor. Hard-liners, however, have derided the pair of funding bills — known as minibuses — as a two-part omnibus.

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Negotiations to expedite its passage in the Senate dragged on for hours Friday, as conservatives pressed for votes on amendments to the plan. At one point, many senators were pessimistic about the possibility of passing the bill before Sunday.

Any amendment added to the bill would have required it to go back to the House, which has already left Washington for a two-week recess — and risked putting vulnerable Democrats in the position of taking difficult votes.

The amendments Republicans have been pushing for include border measures like the Laken Riley Act, which would require detention of undocumented immigrants charged with theft-related crimes, senators say. Another amendment, pushed by Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), targets a Biden administration tailpipe emissions rule.

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Remaining agencies funded through Sept. 30

The “minibus” includes funding for the departments of Defense, Homeland Security, Labor, Trade, Labor, State, Education, Health and Human Services and other legislative priorities, through the end of the 2024 fiscal year.

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Funds boosted for border security, enforcement

Republicans in both chambers leaned heavily on funding to secure the U.S.-Mexico border, arguing the Biden administration’s current policies don’t do enough to combat the surge of migrants at the border.

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Foreign aid, nondefense spending see modest cuts

The bills did not make the drastic cuts House Republicans have sought in the past. But, more than 70 percent of the funds approved in the deal would be allocated to the Department of Defense.

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Democrats tout improvements in education, health

Funding boosts for early childhood education and health care programs were among Democratic priorities.

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Small wins for GOP on embassy flags, gas stoves

Republicans also secured a win with a provision that would effectively ban unofficial flags from being flown at U.S. embassies.

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Another rider that made it into the final version would also block bans on gas stoves, another win for the GOP. The issue has been at the center of debate in Washington after a Consumer Product Safety Commission member indicated last year that the panel was considering regulations or a ban on them.

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Democrats and Republicans both highlighted victories in the final legislation. Republicans cited as victories funding for 2,000 new Border Patrol agents, additional detention beds run by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and a provision cutting off aid to the main United Nations agency that provides assistance to Palestinians. Democrats, including Mr. Biden, secured funding increases for federal child care and education programs, cancer and Alzheimer’s research.

Mr. Biden noted that two important pieces of legislation were still pending in Congress: an agreement on border security and a foreign aid package that would provide arms to Israel and Ukraine. The Senate approved the foreign aid measure in a bipartisan vote last month, but it faces hostility from Republicans in the House.

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The $1.2 trillion government funding bill, passed Saturday, includes a provision that would functionally prohibit pride flags from flying over U.S. embassies.

The provision didn’t explicitly say as much, but its text mimics language from similar efforts to ban pride flags from flying over government buildings.

According to the text, “None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available by this Act may be obligated or expended to fly or display a flag over a facility of the United States Department of State,” except for those in a list of exceptions, which does not include the pride flag.

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Trump has called on Republicans in Congress to link funding the government with the SAVE Act, which would require proof of citizenship to vote — in a bid to target non-citizen voting, which is already illegal. And House Republican leaders are considering adopting the strategy and picking a fight with Democrats.

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The SAVE Act would require all voters to register to vote with proof of citizenship. Trump and allied Republicans contend the measure is intended to keep non-citizens from voting. Johnson and Trump rolled out the measure at Mar-a-Lago earlier this year.

Democrats have torched the bill, which has already passed the House as a standalone measure, as a “partisan scare tactic meant to erode confidence in our elections,” accusing the GOP of picking a fight over a fake problem — it is already illegal and very rare for non-citizens to vote.

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lpetrich said:

This is something like what happened early this year, when Donald Trump demanded that Republicans turn against the border-security bill that they wanted, because he didn't want to give President Biden and his fellow Democrats a victory. He got what he wanted.
Republicans kill border bill in a sign of Trump's strength and McConnell's waning influence - Feb. 7, 2024, 2:20 PM PST - "Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell encouraged GOP senators to pass an immigration and Ukraine aid deal. Just four of them supported it. In the end, even he voted no."

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Jimmy Higgins said:

The SAVE Act would require all voters to register to vote with proof of citizenship.

What state doesn't already require this?

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Copernicus said:

Jimmy Higgins said:

The SAVE Act would require all voters to register to vote with proof of citizenship.

What state doesn't already require this?

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What is left out of the description is that you have to register in person with proof of citizenship. Presumably, this would end voter registration drives, since people would then have to physically go to a location to register rather than merely sign up to be registered. A much better law would simply be to register every citizen either at birth (effective eligibility begins at legal age) or through some other automatic means such as naturalization. The idea of making people register in person is stupid. If people don't want to vote, they can be registered and just not vote. If they do, they should not need to go through this kind of ritual.

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T.G.G. Moogly said:

Of course it's stupid but it drives down the eligible voting pool which always favors minority candidates which typically has been all presidential republican candidates for a couple decades.

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If Republicans in the House, and Senate, don’t get absolute assurances on Election Security, THEY SHOULD, IN NO WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM, GO FORWARD WITH A CONTINUING RESOLUTION ON THE BUDGET. THE DEMOCRATS ARE TRYING TO “STUFF” VOTER REGISTRATIONS WITH ILLEGAL ALIENS. DON’T LET IT HAPPEN - CLOSE IT DOWN!!!

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House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is currently trying to pass a six-month stopgap funding bill paired with the controversial SAVE Act, a legislative proposal that would require individuals to show proof of citizenship at the ballot box.

Congressional Democrats have repeatedly signaled they will not pass a funding bill attached to such a policy, which they see as a “poison pill,” or a controversial bill tied to a piece of legislation as a way to tank the overall deal.

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Still, with roughly a week until the deadline, the standard procedure laying out the steps toward bringing nonessential government functions to a halt will soon get underway for all federal government departments and agencies, an administration official told CNN.

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The Senate voted 78-18 on the stopgap bill, known as a continuing resolution (CR), that will keep the government funded at current spending levels until Dec. 20, at which point it will spark a holiday fight during the lame-duck session.

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Bipartisan negotiators have been trying to make progress on the 12 bills needed to fund federal agencies for the 2025 fiscal year.

Yet there's little time to pass those bills during the lame-duck session; House members and senators are scheduled to be in Washington for only five weeks between Election Day and the end of the year, and the two chambers haven’t reached agreement on any of the dozen measures, known as appropriations bills.

A more likely scenario is that Democrats and Republicans would strike an end-of-year deal on a massive, catchall omnibus spending package or punt the issue once again with another continuing resolution, or CR, that would extend funding into the new year on a short-term basis.

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lpetrich said:

 Government shutdowns in the United States - the first ones were under Carter, Reagan, and Bush I, but they were very short. 1980: 1 day, FTC only. 1981: 1 day. 1984: 4 hours, 1986: 4 hours, 1990: 3 days.

The Democrats controlled the House back then, but every later one was with the Republicans controlling the House.

Nov 1995: 5 days. 1995-96: 21 days. 2013: 16 days, Jan 2018: 3 days, 2018-19: 35 days.

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House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is currently trying to pass a six-month stopgap funding bill paired with the controversial SAVE Act, a legislative proposal that would require individuals to show proof of citizenship at the ballot box.

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ZiprHead said:

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is currently trying to pass a six-month stopgap funding bill paired with the controversial SAVE Act, a legislative proposal that would require individuals to show proof of citizenship at the ballot box.

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I can see this actually pissing off a shit ton of right wingers. "Who, me? I'm a goddamn red blooded American and I've been voting for a long time. Why should I have to show you shit?"

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Facing a government shutdown deadline, the Senate rushed through final passage early Saturday of a bipartisan plan that would temporarily fund federal operations and disaster aid, dropping President-elect Donald Trump’s demands for a debt limit increase into the new year.

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The House approved Johnson’s new bill overwhelmingly, 366-34. The Senate worked into the night to pass it, 85-11, just after the deadline. At midnight, the White House said it had ceased shutdown preparations.

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