Time is money, and right now Republicans don’t have much time if they cannot get the spending bill passed and the shutdown becomes a real problem.
With Democrats whining about the SAVE Act, which I support, Trump has told the GOP to back off.
While there is still some resistance, it appears to have worked, as the House has already cleared one major obstacle.
A group of Republicans was pushing to include the SAVE Act in the spending legislation, or bust.
That, of course, had Democrats all wound up and gave them a reason to block the funding bill.
Trump posted to Truth Social, "We need to get the Government open, and I hope all Republicans and Democrats will join me in supporting this Bill, and send it to my desk WITHOUT DELAY. There can be NO CHANGES at this time."
He continued, "We will work together in good faith to address the issues that have been raised, but we cannot have another long, pointless, and destructive Shutdown that will hurt our Country so badly — One that will not benefit Republicans or Democrats. I hope everyone will vote, YES!"
You just have to love how Democrats equate anything related to secure election as Jim Crow laws.
In order to vote, you need to be a U.S. citizen, which is a key component of the SAVE Act in having voters prove their citizenship, but Senate Minority Leader Schumer (D-NY) threw a fit over it.
He stated, “The SAVE Act is nothing more than Jim Crow 2.0. It would disenfranchise millions of Americans. Every single Senate Democrat will vote against any bill that contains it.”
He continued, “Speaker Johnson should tell SAVE Act Republicans to stand down or else this shutdown will be on them.”
The spending bill was facing a significant challenge in the House, as Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) had only one vote to spare, and there were a handful of Republicans who were not backing the bill.
Leadership made a huge push to get those votes to swing in favor of the legislation, and eventually they got everyone but Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) to vote in favor, allowing the bill to pass 217-215.
Even though the bill passed by a single vote, Johnson made it sound as though it was never in doubt, stating, “The Republican Party is sticking together because the stakes are so high. We’re governing responsibly, and we’re getting the job done. And Democrats, all they do every single day here is obstruct.”
While this is a huge win for Republicans and Trump, it will be short-lived, as the clock is now ticking. There is a stopgap measure in the spending bill that will keep DHS operational for two weeks, so leadership has to negotiate with Democrats to avoid another shutdown in the middle of the month. There is no time for posturing or a victory lap, as leadership and the president have to figure out a way to get Dems onboard.
