House fails to pass six-month government funding bill as shutdown looms

The House of Representatives voted down a six-month stopgap government funding bill paired with a GOP-backed voter registration measure on Wednesday amid bipartisan opposition — leaving lawmakers fewer than 12 days to avert a partial shutdown.Two-hundred and six Democrats and 14 Republicans voted against the spending bill, which in addition to funding the government at current levels until March 28, 2025, would have mandated proof-of-citizenship nationwide when registering to vote.Just 199 Republicans and three Democratic renegades voted in favor of it.Reps.

Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) voted present.House Democratic leaders whipped their caucus to cast the “no” votes, while some GOP lawmakers resistant to spending bills without cuts ultimately kept the bill from passing.The opposition came less than a month after members of the conservative Freedom Caucus pushed for the continuing resolution to authorize federal spending paired with the voter registration provisions, though several still voted the package down on the floor.Newly installed Freedom Caucus chairman Andy Harris (R-Md.) unsuccessfully tried to persuade members to back it earlier Wednesday.“We owe it to our constituents to pass legislation preventing illegal immigrants from voting in federal elections—an actual threat to our democracy,” Harris posted on X.“I urge my colleagues to protect the integrity of our elections and pass the CR/SAVE Act.”A senior House Republican aide who spoke with The Post accused the fiscal hardliners of “taking our leverage” on Democrats in government spending negotiations going forward — and eliminating the chances of the GOP-backed voter registration measure ever being taken up in the Senate.“We could’ve set up a shutdown fight that had a message,” said Rep.

Chip Roy (R-Texas), a strong proponent of the continuing resolution, or CR, claiming that strengthening voter registration standards was an “80%+ issue.”“We ...