Speaker Johnson postpones vote on a bill to avoid a partial government shutdown

WASHINGTON (AP) — Speaker Mike Johnson postponed a vote Wednesday on a temporary spending bill that would keep federal agencies and programs funded for six months as opposition from both parties thwarted his first attempt at avoiding a partial government shutdown in three weeks.

The legislation to continue government funding when the new budget year begins on Oct. 1 includes a requirement that people registering to vote must provide proof of citizenship. Johnson, R-La., signaled that he was not backing off linking the two main components of the bill.

"No vote today because we're in the consensus building business here in Congress. With small majorities, that's what you do," Johnson told reporters. "We're having thoughtful conversations, family conversations within the Republican conference and I believe we'll get there.”

Congress needs to pass a stopgap spending bill before Oct. 1 to avoid a federal shutdown just weeks before the election. The measure had been teed up for a vote on Wednesday afternoon, but Democrats are overwhelmingly opposed and enough Republicans had voiced opposition to raise serious doubts about whether the measure would pass.

The stopgap bill would generally continue existing funding through March 28. The GOP opponents of the bill argue that it continues spending at levels they consider excessive. And some Republicans simply won’t vote for any continuing resolution, arguing that Congress must return to passing its 12 annual spending bills separately rather than through the one or two catchall bills that have become the norm in recent decades.

Despite the dim prospects for the bill, Johnson had said just the day before he would push ahead with the vote. He has embraced concerns that some of the migrants who have entered the country at the U.S.-Mexico border in recent years could swing the elections, though it’s illegal for noncitizens to vote and research has shown that such voting is extremely rare.

“Congress has a lot of responsibilities, but two primary obligations — responsibly fund the government and make sure that our elections are free and fair and secure,” Johnson said. “And that's what we're working on.”

The House approved a bill with the proof of citizenship mandate back in July. Republicans believe there is value in revisiting the issue and making Democrats in competitive swing districts vote again.

Democrats are calling on Johnson to “stop wasting time” on a bill that will not become law and to work with them on a short-term spending measure that has support from both parties. At the end of the day, they say no spending bill can pass without bipartisan support and buy-in from a Democratic-led Senate and White House.

“Speaker Johnson, scrap your plan. Don’t just delay the vote. Find a better one that can pass in a bipartisan way," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said in response to Johnson's announcement.

But Johnson wasn't giving up on his proposal yet, saying House leadership would work on building support over the weekend. He said that ensuring that only U.S. citizens vote in federal elections is “the most pressing issue right now and we're going to get this job done.”

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 stopgap bill without such assurances.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., 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.

With an election in just a few weeks, lawmakers are wanting to avoid flirting with a partial government shutdown. They're anxious to get home and campaign, which would indicate the two sides will work out a spending deal before the end of the month.

In addition to the proof of citizenship question, the other sticking point is how long to extend funding while negotiating terms of a full-year bill. Some House Republicans want to continue funding for six months in the belief that Trump will become president and give them a better chance at passing their priorities in the full-year bill. But others don't want to saddle the next president, regardless of party, with the spending battle.

Rep. Tom Cole, the Republican chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, said Johnson “fought the fight he needed to fight.”

“I think it reassures people on the right. He said, ‘look, I’m trying to do what you want. You just didn't give me the votes that I needed,'” Cole said.

Cole also suggested that the GOP's failure to rally around Johnson's proposal will result in a shorter extension. That's what Democrats are seeking. Many Republicans, including Cole, also prefer going that route, saying the next president, regardless of party, already has enough work to do.

“They've got plenty on the table. They've got to get their team in place. They've got a budget. They have to deal with all the taxes,” Cole said. “Why should we give them a chance of a government shutdown in a matter of weeks after they're inaugurated?”

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., walks to a meeting at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Instagram is making teen accounts mandatory for those under 18 as it tries to make the platform safer for children amid a growing backlash against how social media affects young people's lives.

Beginning Tuesday in the U.S., U.K., Canada and Australia, anyone under under 18 who signs up for Instagram will be placed into teen accounts — which will be private by default — and those with existing accounts will be migrated over the next 60 days. Teens in the European Union will see their accounts adjusted later this year.

Meta acknowledges that teenagers may lie about their age and says it will require them to verify their ages in more instances, like if they try to create a new account with an adult birthday. The Menlo Park, California company also said it is building technology that proactively finds teen accounts that pretend to be grownups and automatically places them into the restricted teen accounts.

The teen accounts will be private by default. Private messages are restricted so teens can only receive them from people they follow or are already connected to. “Sensitive content,” such as videos of people fighting or those promoting cosmetic procedures, will be limited, Meta said. Teens will also get notifications if they are on Instagram for more than 60 minutes and a “sleep mode” will be enabled that turns off notifications and sends auto-replies to direct messages from 10 p.m. until 7 a.m.

While these settings will be turned on for all teens, 16 and 17-year-olds will be able to turn them off. Kids under 16 will need their parents' permission to do so.

“The three concerns we’re hearing from parents are that their teens are seeing content that they don’t want to see or that they’re getting contacted by people they don’t want to be contacted by or that they’re spending too much on the app,” said Naomi Gleit, head of product at Meta. “So teen accounts is really focused on addressing those three concerns.”

The announcement comes as the company faces lawsuits from dozens of U.S. states that accuse it of harming young people and contributing to the youth mental health crisis by knowingly and deliberately designing features on Instagram and Facebook that addict children to its platforms.

In the past, Meta's efforts at addressing teen safety and mental health on its platforms have been met with criticism that the changes don't go far enough. For instance, while kids will get a notification when they've spent 60 minutes on the app, they will be able to bypass it and continue scrolling.

That's unless the child's parents turn on “parental supervision” mode, where parents can limit teens' time on Instagram to a specific amount of time, such as 15 minutes.

With the latest changes, Meta is giving parents more options to oversee their kids' accounts. Those under 16 will need a parent or guardian's permission to change their settings to less restrictive ones. They can do this by setting up “parental supervision” on their accounts and connecting them to a parent or guardian.

Nick Clegg, Meta’s president of global affairs, said last week that parents don't use the parental controls the company has introduced in recent years.

Gleit said she thinks teen accounts will create a “big incentive for parents and teens to set up parental supervision.”

“Parents will be able to see, via the family center, who is messaging their teen and hopefully have a conversation with their teen,” she said. “If there is bullying or harassment happening, parents will have visibility into who their teen’s following, who’s following their teen, who their teen has messaged in the past seven days and hopefully have some of these conversations and help them navigate these really difficult situations online.”

U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said last year that tech companies put too much on parents when it comes to keeping children safe on social media.

“We’re asking parents to manage a technology that’s rapidly evolving that fundamentally changes how their kids think about themselves, how they build friendships, how they experience the world — and technology, by the way, that prior generations never had to manage,” Murthy said in May 2023.

File - The Instagram logo is seen on a cell phone in Boston, Oct. 14, 2022. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer, File)

FILE - Students use their cellphones as they leave for the day the Ramon C. Cortines School of Visual and Performing Arts High School in downtown Los Angeles, Aug. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)