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SHUT IT DOWN! ‘Democrats would rather shut down the government than stop illegals from voting’

September 10, 2024 | | Print Article

Calls to “SHUT IT DOWN” rang out as conservatives kicked off a congressional “Groundhog Day” ahead of a continuing resolution deadline with a clear ultimatum.

After a previous fight wound up approving $1.2 trillion dollars to fund the federal government through the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2024 without scoring a victory on border security, the next round was heating up with the presidential election as a backdrop.

In addition to quibbling over whether the CR would carry into March 2025 to allow the next president and 119th Congress to determine the path forward, or merely to gift the lame-duck federal government a 13-figure parting gift in December, election integrity became a focal point ahead of Sept. 30.

House Republicans included language from the already passed Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act to force Senate Democrats to take action on the legislation that had been left idle.

Monday night, the House Rules Committee voted 9-4 to include a mandate on proof of citizenship for voter registration as part of a six-month extension as a procedural vote for debate was expected Tuesday.

Naturally, Democrats, who’ve brushed aside concerns about foreign nationals potentially voting in the upcoming election, had signaled that they were against the move seen as “catering to the hard MAGA right.”

In a joint statement from Senate Leader Chuck Schumer (NY) and Senate Appropriations Committee chair Patty Murray (WA), the Democrats expressed, “As we have said repeatedly, avoiding a government shutdown requires bipartisanship, not a bill drawn up by one party. Speaker Johnson is making the same mistake as former Speaker McCarthy did a year ago, by wasting precious time catering to the hard MAGA right. This tactic didn’t work last September and it will not work this year either. The House Republican funding proposal is an ominous case of déjà vu.”

“If Speaker Johnson drives House Republicans down this highly partisan path, the odds of a shutdown go way up, and Americans will know that the responsibility of a shutdown will be on the House Republicans’ hands.” the statement continued, prompting House Appropriations Committee member Texas Rep. Michael Cloud (R) to react, “Democrats would rather shut down the government than stop illegals from voting. Every American needs to know this.”

While White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre referred to the language as a “partisan poison [pill],” during Monday’s White House press briefing, former President Donald Trump voiced his favor for a shutdown if action wasn’t taken to secure the election.

He said in an interview, “I would shut down the government in a heartbeat if they don’t get it. It should be in the bill. And if it’s not in the bill, you want to close it up. So I’m not there but, you know, I have influence.”

Still, others saw tacking the SAVE Act onto the CR as little more than a chance at scoring political points as it was doomed to fail in the Democrat-controlled Senate. Among the critics was Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie (R) who held fast to voting “Hell No” on advancing the resolution stating during the House Rules Committee meeting, “I refuse to be a thespian in the Speaker’s failure theater.”

“The 6-month continuing resolution with the SAVE Act attached is 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,” he detailed and asked, “Why are we funding things we don’t like? Well, it’s because we’re addicted to spending. And this doesn’t do anything about the addiction at all.”

Others found themselves firmly agreeing that the SAVE Act was an all-or-nothing proposition and that, if congressional Republicans couldn’t get it passed, the government should be shut down indefinitely.

Kevin Haggerty
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