WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives will vote on legislation on Wednesday that pairs a must-pass spending bill with tighter voting rules, setting up an election year clash with the Democratic-majority Senate that risks a partial government shutdown.
Congress must pass spending legislation before the start of the new fiscal year on Oct. 1 to avoid furloughing thousands of federal workers and shutting down a wide swath of government operations just weeks before the Nov. 5 election.
But lawmakers are at odds over an attached Republican voting bill that would require those registering to vote to provide proof of U.S. citizenship.
Spurred by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s false claims about election fraud, House Republicans say the bill is a necessary step to prevent people living in the country illegally from voting. For their part, Democrats say it aims to drive down voter participation. A 2017 study found 30 possible instances of noncitizens voting out of more than 25 million ballots cast.
It is not clear whether Republicans will even muster enough support to pass the bill out of the House. With a narrow 220-211 majority, Republicans have few votes to spare and some have said they will vote against it.
“I certainly hope that it passes,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said on CNBC.
House Republicans have spent much of the past two years paralyzed by infighting, and Johnson shelved a vote on the package last week due to lack of support.
Democrats questioned whether Johnson would actually go ahead with the vote on Wednesday afternoon. “We’ll see if this vote gets called. We’ve been down this road before,” Representative Pete Aguilar said at a news conference.
Even if the bill clears the House this time, it is certain to be rejected by the Senate, leaving the two chambers at odds with less than two weeks before government funding expires.
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday appeared to show little enthusiasm for the fight, saying his party would likely be blamed if Congress allows the government to shut down shortly before the election.
“I’m for whatever avoids a government shutdown,” he told reporters.
Congress faces an even more critical deadline on Jan. 1, by which time lawmakers will have to raise the nation’s debt ceiling or risk defaulting on more than $35 trillion in federal government debt.
(Reporting by Andy Sullivan, Moira Warburton and Richard Cowan; Editing by Scott Malone, Jonathan Oatis and Nick Zieminski)
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