GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump is calling on House Republicans to shut down the government on Sept. 30 if Congress doesn’t pass a Republican bill to change voting rules across the country. “I would shut down the government in a heartbeat if they don’t get it,”said Trump last week.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., aware that agovernment shutdown five weeks before Election Day carries risks for the party that’s blamed for it, has yet to say what he’ll do.
The Save ACT is a GOP-sponsored bill that would make it illegal for non-US citizens to vote. Democrats accuse Republicans of trying to undermine US public confidence in elections by pointing out that it’s already illegal for non-citizens to vote. They also claim thatsome Republicans support the bill because requiring proof of citizenship for voter registration would make voting harder for low-income people, those least likely to have a passport or birth certificate, who generally vote for Democrats.
The Republican-led House and Democratic-led Senate, which return to work on Sept. 9, must agree on a plan to fund the government by Sept. 30 to avoid an Oct. 1 shutdown. If they can’t agree on a one-year funding package, the two houses of Congress could pass a “continuing resolution” to fund the government for less than a year, kicking the next budget showdown further down the calendar.
Algerians are headed to the polls today to elect their next members of parliament. However, hopes for true democracy look more remote than ever.
In addition to the health concerns from the Ebola outbreak, the UN is sounding the alarm on a potential development crisis in Africa sparked by the disease.
The protests in the small Balkan country were touched off by the start of construction on a seaside luxury resort linked to US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.