The legislative calendar is ticking down toward a shutdown, and House Republicans, ever the masters of self-sabotage, have decided to throw a wrench into the works by linking a stopgap funding measure with an election-year gimmick – stricter proof-of-citizenship requirements for voting. The bill, shepherded by Speaker Mike Johnson and blessed by the spectral presence of Donald Trump, is an exercise in pandering that does little to address the actual task at hand: keeping the government functioning.
Let us be clear: this is not about safeguarding the sanctity of elections. It is about playing political footsie with hard-line conservatives at the expense of the broader public. Speaker Johnson’s assertion that “Congress has a responsibility to do both” — keep the government funded and secure elections — is, at best, disingenuous. The reality is that only one of these tasks is pressing right now, and it is not a solution in search of a problem. Voter fraud, the phantom menace Republicans keep invoking, remains about as common as snow in July.
The Republican Party, or at least a significant faction of it, seems more intent on laying the groundwork for another bout of election paranoia than on governing. In attaching the so-called Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act to a continuing resolution (CR), they are effectively daring the Democratic-controlled Senate to reject it. This is not legislation; it is theater. Rep. Matt Rosendale, a disciple of the Trumpian wing of the party, might rail against “illegals” voting in American elections, but what he’s really doing is fueling the fires of fear, all while risking a shutdown that would disrupt the lives of millions, including veterans whose benefits could be jeopardized.
And what of those in the GOP who see the folly in this maneuver? They exist, though they remain hesitant to speak too loudly. Some Republicans have warned of the dangers of assuming that the next election will deliver the congressional majorities they so desperately want. One unnamed House member even pointed out the obvious: forcing newly elected members into complex appropriations battles immediately after the election is a recipe for disaster. The appropriations process is messy enough without dumping it into the laps of political novices.
This CR-plus-SAVE Act gambit is a Hail Mary pass, with the clock winding down and no clear endgame in sight. If it fails — as most serious observers expect it will in the Senate — the House GOP leadership will have burned precious time on a futile quest to appease the far right, leaving the nation teetering on the brink of a shutdown. Meanwhile, the veterans who rely on the Department of Veterans Affairs are left wondering whether their checks will arrive in October, as the VA grapples with a $3 billion budget shortfall exacerbated by the PACT Act, a piece of legislation that had bipartisan support until Republicans rediscovered their fiscal hawkishness.
Republicans like Rep. Chip Roy, the lead sponsor of the SAVE Act, argue that this is a necessary fight to “differentiate” themselves from Democrats. But if that differentiation comes at the cost of a government shutdown and a potential political backlash in 2024, the question must be asked: differentiation from what? From governance? From responsibility? The American people are not asking for more partisan posturing; they are asking for their government to function.
Democrats, for their part, are playing their usual role of scolding the Republicans from the sidelines. Shalanda Young, the White House’s budget director, has correctly pointed out that the GOP’s approach ignores pressing issues, like disaster relief and veterans’ benefits, in favor of election-year posturing. But the Democrats’ condemnation, however warranted, does not absolve them of their own shortcomings. The Democratic Party, too, has a tendency to treat governance as a mere backdrop to their ongoing battle against the specter of Donald Trump.
As we careen toward September 30, one can only hope that the adults in the room — if they still exist — will find a way to avert yet another self-inflicted crisis. A shutdown would be a needless, avoidable disaster, but then again, Washington has never been one to avoid the avoidable. Both parties need to stop digging in their heels and start doing the job they were elected to do: govern.
But with the House Republicans more focused on placating the ghost of Trump and the Democrats gleefully pointing fingers from their Senate perch, the prospects of a clean resolution seem dim. What we are left with is a government held hostage by political theatrics, the needs of the nation sacrificed on the altar of election-year calculations.
Once again, America is witnessing the triumph of politics over policy, a spectacle where the actual well-being of the country is secondary to the gamesmanship of the Beltway. If nothing changes in the coming weeks, this latest chapter in Washington’s chronic dysfunction will only add to the growing disenchantment with a system that no longer seems capable of functioning — let alone governing.
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