WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Mike Johnson will move ahead with a temporary spending bill that would prevent a partial government shutdown when the new budget year begins on Oct. 1, despite the headwinds that prompted him to pull the bill from consideration last week.
The bill includes a requirement that people registering to vote must provide proof of citizenship, which has become a leading election-year priority for Republicans raising the specter of noncitizens voting in the U.S., even though it's already illegal to do so and research has shown that such voting is rare.
“I urge all of my colleagues to do what the overwhelming majority of the people of this country rightfully demand and deserve — prevent non-American citizens from voting in American elections,” Johnson said Tuesday.
Johnson told reporters he was not ready to discuss an alternative plan to keep the government funded other than what will come before the House on Wednesday.
“I’m not having any alternative conversations. That’s the play. It’s an important one. And I’m going to work around the clock to try and get it done,” Johnson said.
The legislation faces an uphill climb in the House and has no chance in the Senate. The vast majority of Democrats oppose it, and some Republicans do, too, but for different reasons.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said the only way to prevent a government shutdown was for both sides to work together on an agreement. He said the House vote announced by Johnson was doomed to fail.
“The only thing that will accomplish is make clear that he's running into a dead end,” Schumer said. “We must have a bipartisan plan instead.”
The legislation would fund agencies at current levels while lawmakers work out their differences on a full-year spending agreement.
Democrats, and some Republicans, are pushing for a short extension. A temporary fix would allow the current Congress to hammer out a final bill after the election and get it to President Joe Biden's desk for his signature.
But Johnson and some of the more conservative members of his conference are pushing for a six-month extension in the hopes that Republican nominee Donald Trump will win the election and give them more leverage when crafting the full-year bill.
Schumer said a six-month measure would shortchange the Pentagon and other government agencies that need more certainty about funding levels.
“You simply cannot run the military with six-month stopgaps,” Schumer said.
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell declined to weigh in on how long to extend funding. He said Schumer and Johnson, ultimately, will have to work out a final agreement that can pass both chambers.
“The one thing you cannot have is a government shutdown. It would be politically beyond stupid for us to do that right before the election because certainly we would get the blame,” McConnell said.
Johnson said last week that he was not giving up on his proposal just yet and would be working through the weekend to build support. He said 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.”
On Sunday, he traveled to Florida to meet with Trump, who had earlier seemingly encouraged a government shutdown if Republicans “don’t get assurances on Election Security.” Trump said on the social media platform Truth Social that they should not go forward with a stopgap bill without such assurances.
The House approved a bill with the proof of citizenship mandate back in July. Some Republicans who view the issue as popular with their constituents have been pushing for another chance to show their support for the measure. Still, other Republicans are expected to vote no because they view the spending in the bill as excessive.
FILE - Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., speaks at the Capitol in Washington, July 23, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
Speaker Johnson sets House vote on government funding bill after a one-week postponement
Speaker Johnson sets House vote on government funding bill after a one-week postponement
Asian markets forged higher on Thursday after the Federal Reserve kicked off its efforts to prevent a recession in the U.S. with a bigger-than-usual cut to interest rates.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index jumped 2.1% to 37,155.33, lifted by major export manufacturers' shares. Toyota Motor Corp. jumped 5.1%, Sony Group Corp. added 2.9% and Hitachi Ltd. advanced 5.8%.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 1.9% to 17,993.30.
The Shanghai Composite index climbed 0.7% to 2,736.51, while Taiwan's Taiex was up 1.7%.
South Korea's Kospi rose 0.2% to 2,579.86.
The Bank of Japan and the Bank of England are also holding monetary policy meetings this week. Neither central bank is expected to move on rates, though the language of what the officials say could be an indicator of later moves and still influence markets.
Because the Fed's half-percentage point rate cut was so well telegraphed, markets had already climbed in anticipation. So, Wall Street’s reactions to the 180-degree turn on its policy rate were relatively muted.
“Markets barely reacted to the Fed’s 50 (basis point) rate cut, on balance, and our base case is that further cuts won’t move the needle too much either,” Thomas Mathews of Capital Economics said in a commentary.
It was the first cut to the federal funds rate in over four years, ending a stretch where the Fed kept rates at a two-decade high to slow the U.S. economy enough to stifle the worst inflation in generations.
On Wednesday, the S&P 500 slipped 0.3%, closing at 5,618.26. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.2% to 41,503.10. The Nasdaq composite lost 0.3% to 17,573.30.
The Fed's move can help financial markets in two big ways. It eases the brakes off the economy, which has been slowing under the weight of higher rates, and it gives a boost to prices for all kinds of investments. Besides stocks, gold and bond prices had already rallied in recent months on expectations that rate cuts were coming.
Now that inflation has eased significantly from its peak two summers ago and appears to be heading toward 2%, the Fed says it it can turn more of its attention toward protecting the slowing job market and overall economy.
“The time to support the labor market is when it’s strong and not when you begin to see the layoffs,” Fed Chair Jerome Powell said. “That’s the situation we’re in.”
Some critics say the Federal Reserve may have already kept interest rates too high for too long, but Powell said that “We don’t think we’re behind.”
“We think this is timely. But I think you can take this as a sign of our commitment not to get behind,” Powell said in a press conference following the Fed’s announcement.”
“The focus has now decisively shifted to the labor market, and there’s a sense that the Fed is trying to strike a better balance between jobs and inflation,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management
Like stock prices, Treasury yields wavered up and down repeatedly immediately after the Fed announced its cut and published its projections.
Trading in Tupperware Brands remained halted after the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Its stock has been sinking, down to 51 cents, since a mini-revival early in the pandemic sent its stock above $30.
All told, the S&P 500 slipped 16.32 points to 5,618.26. The Dow dropped 103.08 to 41,503.10, and the Nasdaq composite lost 54.76 to 17,573.30.
In other dealings, U.S. benchmark crude oil lost 20 cents to $69.68 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Brent crude, the international standard, declined 22 cents to $73.43 per barrel.
The dollar rose to 142.58 Japanese yen from 142.29 yen. The euro rose to $1.1132 from $1.1120.
Currency traders watch monitors at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
A currency trader talks on the phone near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
Specialist Genaro Saporito, foreground, works with traders at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
The news conference of Federal' Reserve Chair Jerome Powell appears on a screen as trader Neil Catania works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Trader Leon Montana works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Currency traders work near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), top left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won, top center, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
