WASHINGTON (AP) — 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 year 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 Rep. Cory Mills, R-Fla., in announcing his opposition.
Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., 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.
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., said on X that the continuing resolution was “an insult to Americans’ intelligence.”
"The CR doesn’t cut spending, and the shiny object attached to it will be dropped like a hot potato before passage," Massie 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. Rep. Jim Jordan, a co-founder of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, told colleagues “this is the best fight we've ever had," said Rep. Kevin Hern, R-Okla.
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 Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C. "This is the hill to die on.”
As lawmakers debated the short-term spending measure on the House floor, the focus was almost entirely on the proof of citizenship mandate, also referred to as the SAVE Act. Republicans linked a surge in migrants during the Biden administration with the prospect that some could vote in future elections.
“What are you afraid of to require someone to prove who they say that they are?" said Rep. Nick Langworthy, R-N.Y.
Democrats countered that the proof of citizenship requirement would disenfranchise many Americans who don’t have the required documents readily available when they get an opportunity to register to vote.
“Let me be clear, the SAVE Act is not about targeting undocumented immigrants, it's about suppressing the vote of millions of American citizens,” said Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., talks to reporters as he arrives at the Capitol in Washington, Monday, Sept. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
SRINAGAR, India (AP) — In Indian-controlled Kashmir, many people boycotted elections for decades in protest against Indian rule. But in the run-up to the local election beginning Wednesday, many are willing to buck that trend and use their vote to deny Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party the power to form a local government in the disputed region.
The vote is the first in a decade, and the first since Modi’s Hindu nationalist government in 2019 scrapped the Muslim-majority region’s special status and downgraded the former state to a federally governed territory. The move — which largely resonated in India and among Modi supporters — was mostly opposed in the region as an assault on its identity and autonomy.
“Boycotts will not work in this election,” said Abdul Rashid, a resident in southern Kashmir’s Shangus village. “There is a desperate need to end the onslaught of changes coming from there (India).”
The election will allow residents to have their own truncated government and a local parliament called an assembly, instead of remaining under New Delhi’s direct rule. The region’s last assembly election was held in 2014, after which Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party for the first time ruled the region in a coalition with the local Peoples Democratic Party.
But the government collapsed in 2018 after BJP withdrew from the coalition. Polls in the past have been marked with violence, boycotts and vote-rigging, even though India called them a victory over separatism.
This time, New Delhi says the polls are ushering in democracy after more than three decades of strife. However, many locals see the vote as an opportunity not only to elect their own representatives but also to register their protest against the 2019 changes.
Polling will be held in three phases. The second and third phases are scheduled for Sept. 25 and Oct. 1. Votes will be counted on Oct. 8, with results expected that day.
Kashmir is divided between nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan. Since 1947, the neighbors have fought two wars over its control, after British rule of the subcontinent ended with the creation of the two countries. Both claim the Himalayan territory in its entirety.
In 2019, the Indian-controlled part of the region was divided into two territories, Ladakh and Jammu-Kashmir, ruled directly by New Delhi. The region has been on edge since it lost its flag, criminal code, constitution and inherited protections on land and jobs.
Multiple pro-India Kashmiri parties, many of whose leaders were among thousands jailed in 2019, are contesting the election, promising to reverse those changes. Some lower-rung separatist leaders, who in the past dismissed polls as illegitimate exercises under military occupation, are also running for office as independent candidates.
India’s main opposition Congress party, which favors restoration of the region’s statehood, has formed an alliance with the National Conference, the region’s largest party. Modi’s BJP has a strong political base in Hindu-dominated areas of Jammu that largely favor the 2019 changes but is weak in the Kashmir Valley, the heartland of anti-India rebellion.
“Our main concern is governance through local representatives. It will be good for us if the BJP forms the government here as it’s already in power at the center,” said Chuni Lal, a shopkeeper in Jammu city.
The vote will see a limited transition of power from New Delhi to the local assembly, with a chief minister at the top heading a council of ministers. But Kashmir will continue to be a “Union Territory” — a region directly controlled by the federal government — with India’s Parliament remaining its main legislator.
The elected government will have partial control over areas like education, culture and taxation but not over the police. Kashmir’s statehood must be restored for the new government to have powers similar to other states in India. However, it will not have the special powers it enjoyed before the 2019 changes.
Last year, India’s Supreme Court endorsed the government’s 2019 changes but ordered New Delhi to conduct local polls by the end of September and restore Kashmir’s statehood. Modi’s government has promised to restore statehood after the polls but has not specified a timeline.
Elections in Indian-held Kashmir have remained a sensitive issue. Many believe they have been rigged multiple times in favor of local politicians who subsequently became India’s regional enforcers, used to incrementally dilute laws that offered Kashmir a special status and legitimize New Delhi’s militaristic policies.
In the mid-1980s, the region’s dissident political groups emerged as a formidable force against Kashmir’s pro-India political elite but lost the 1987 election widely believed to have been rigged. A public backlash followed, with some young activists taking up arms and demanding a united Kashmir, either under Pakistani rule or independent of both.
India insists the insurgency is Pakistan-sponsored terrorism, a charge Islamabad denies. Tens of thousands of people have been killed in the fighting, which most Kashmiri Muslims consider a legitimate freedom struggle.
Noor Ahmed Baba, a political scientist, said the outcome of the polls “is not going to change the dynamics of the Kashmir dispute” since it will end with a largely powerless legislature, but will be crucial for optics.
“If local parties win, it is going to put some pressure on the central government and perhaps delegitimize from a democratic perspective what has been done to Kashmir. But a BJP win can allow the party to consolidate and validate 2019 changes in the local legislature,” Baba said.
India’s ruling BJP is not officially aligned with any local party, but many politicians believe it is tacitly supporting some parties and independent candidates who privately agree with its stances.
The National Conference party says Modi’s BJP is trying to manipulate the election through independent candidates. “Their (BJP’s) concerted effort is to divide the vote in Kashmir,” said Tanvir Sadiq, a candidate from the National Conference.
The BJP’s national secretary, meanwhile, says his party’s former ally, the Peoples Democratic Party, and the National Conference are being supported by former militants. Ram Madhav said at a recent rally that they want to return the region to its “trouble-filled days.”
For residents whose civil liberties have been curbed, the election is also a chance to choose representatives they hope will address their main issues.
Many say that while the election won’t solve the dispute over Kashmir, it will give them a rare window to express their frustration with Indian control.
“We need some relief and end of bureaucratic rule here,” said Rafiq Ahmed, a taxi driver in the region’s main city of Srinagar.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) party workers attend a rally, ahead of Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections in Jammu, India, Saturday Sep.7, 2024.(AP Photo/Channi Anand, File)
Former union minster and star campaigner of BJP Anurag Thakur and state in charge Ram Madhav wave to supporters during a campaign rally, after party candidates filed the nomination papers for the upcoming Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections at Nagrota outskirts of Jammu, India, Thursday, Sep.12, 2024.(AP Photo/Channi Anand, File)
Supporters of India's opposition Congress party, wave during an election rally at Dooru some 78 kilometers (49 miles) south of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir,Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan, File)
Supporters of Awami Ittehad Party (AIP) leader Sheikh Abdul Rashid, also known as Engineer Rashid, attend a public rally at Baramulla, some 55 kilometers (34 miles) north of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Sept. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan, File)
Awami Ittehad Party (AIP) leader Sheikh Abdul Rashid, also known as Engineer Rashid, speaks during a public rally at Baramulla, some 55 kilometers (34 miles) north of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Sept. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan, File)
Policemen stop supporters of National Conference Party from accompanying their candidate during the filing of nomination papers for the upcoming Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections in Jammu, India, Sept.10, 2024. (AP Photo/Channi Anand, File)
Supporters listen as India's opposition Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi, unseen, speaks during an election rally at Dooru some 78 kilometers south of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan, FILE)
Supporters of India's opposition Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi, shout slogans during an election rally at Dooru, some 78 kilometers south of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Sept. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan, File)
People watch from a window during a road show of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate Arif Laigroo, in Srinagar, Indian-controlled Kashmir Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan, File)
National Conference (NC) President Farooq Abdullah, center, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leader Mehbooba Mufti, second right, and other leaders sit during an all parties meeting on restoration of the special status that was stripped last year from Indian-administered Kashmir, in Srinagar, India. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan, File)
A child looks on as Indian policemen frisk Kashmiri pedestrians during a surprise security check in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Monday, Jan. 9, 2023. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan, File)
Indian security forces walk past Indian flags and flags of India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as a motorcycle rally by BJP youth wing to the Kargil War Memorial passes through Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Monday, July 25, 2022. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan, File)
Kashmiris shout slogans during a protest after Friday prayers against the abrogation of article 370, on the outskirts of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Friday, Oct. 4, 2019.(AP Photo/ Dar Yasin, File)
A masked protester throws stone at Indian security forces during a protest after Eid prayers in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Saturday, June 16, 2018. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin, File)
Kashmiris sit outside closed shops painted with graffiti during a curfew in central Srinagar, India, Thursday, Sept. 16, 2010. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin, File)
