A story says that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s office is against the Freedom Caucus’s plans to risk a government shutdown in order to pass a bill that would protect voters.
Republicans and Democrats need to agree on a continuing resolution by September 30 to keep the government open. However, some Republicans want to link the motion to a bill that would make it necessary to show proof of residency in order to vote.
“The legitimacy of this election cycle is the fastest-moving threat to the country.”
The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, or SAVE, is the name of the law.
A story from The Hill said that Mike Johnson, the Republican Speaker is thinking about putting the act on the budget bill.
“I can promise you that the SAVE Act is a part of this talk,” Johnson said.
“And it’s not only the Freedom Caucus; members of the whole conference are worried about this too,” he said. “We think that the legitimacy of this election cycle is one of the most important issues, if not the most important problem, that the country is facing right now.”
Axios said that McConnell’s office told Johnson not to include the move because Democrats might add their own to the resolution in response. One of them could be the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, which is what Democrats want to see happen.
President Joe Biden has said he strongly dislikes the bill. Also, the Democrats rule the Senate, which makes it hard for the bill to pass. It passed with backing from all Republicans in the House in July.
The Biden administration has said in the past that it doesn’t support the bill because it makes it harder for some Americans to vote.
A White House statement said, “This bill would not protect our elections in any way. Instead, it would make it more difficult for all eligible Americans to register to vote and raise the risk that eligible voters will be from the voter rolls. There is strong proof that the rules in place to stop noncitizens from voting are doing their job—it is very uncommon for noncitizens to break the law by voting in the federal elections.”