The House yesterday rejected a temporary spending fix that would have forestalled a government shutdown.
The GOP measure, which would extend government funding for six months past the looming Sept. 30 deadline, was rejected by the House in a 202–220 vote, including 14 Republicans who voted against it. Three Democrats supported the bill. Two members voted “present.”
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) heads to his office before the vote on the government funding bill at the U.S. Capitol on September 18, 2024. Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images
The bill included the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which would have required proof of citizenship to vote.
With the bill’s failure, House Republican leaders will go back to the drawing board with 12 days left until government funding runs dry.
Several Republican members told The Epoch Times that they see a clean CR as the most likely outcome of the funding fight.
The legislation was originally slated for a vote last week, but House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) pulled it from the floor early on Sept. 11 after opposition from Republicans and Democrats alike.
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Democrats overwhelmingly opposed the plan and have called instead for a 3-month stopgap bill with no policy riders, known as a “clean” continuing resolution (CR). They say the SAVE Act, is unnecessary since existing laws already bar illegal immigrants from voting.
Meanwhile, Republican objections to the spending plan came from various camps: Some Republicans object to CRs outright; others believe topline spending figures was too high; others said it would leave the military underfunded for too long.
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), who opposes using CRs, says he wants Congress to pass the required 12 funding bills individually, rather than wrapping them into continuing resolutions or massive end-of-year omnibus spending bills.
“Whether Democrats are in control or Republicans are in control, we never do the 12 separate bills,” he said, referring to the dispute as “political theater.”
The inclusion of the SAVE Act was designed to make the measure more palatable to conservatives who oppose CRs, but many were critical of the move, describing it as a “show vote” that has no chance to become law or be implemented before Election Day.
Other Republicans supported the legislation, including a broad swath of the House Freedom Caucus.
Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) criticized Republican opposition to the deal, indicating that it puts conservatives in a weaker position and increases the likelihood of a clean CR without any wins for Republicans.
“Pat yourself on the back en route to getting the very CR that you said you didn’t want to have in the first place. Congratulations,” Roy said when asked about the bill’s failure.
Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) said that a 6-month CR was the best move for Republicans.
“I firmly believe that you cannot find that compromise with this current White House. It should be left to the next president of the United States,” Donalds said.
—Joseph Lord, Stacy Robinson
LEBANON SEES MORE EXPLODING ELECTRONICS
Electronic devices exploded across Lebanon for the second day in a row on Wednesday, killing at least 14 people and wounding about 450 more, according to local officials.
Lebanon’s Health Ministry reported 12 people were killed and around 2,800 people were injured the day before, when their handheld electronic pagers began to explode.
The two days of exploding electronic devices appear to have harmed many members of Hezbollah; an Iranian-aligned Shia Islamist Lebanese faction designated as a terrorist organization by the United States and Israel. Reports have indicated at least two children were killed in the first day of pager blasts, along with other civilians.
The Wednesday blasts impacted a broader range of electronics than the pagers of the first day.
Hezbollah’s Al Manar TV reported blasts in multiple areas of Lebanon on Wednesday, which it attributed to exploding walkie-talkies.
An Associated Press photographer reported a car and a mobile phone shop in the southern Lebanese coastal city of Sidon were damaged after unknown devices exploded inside of them. Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported a woman was also hurt when a home solar energy system blew up.
The Epoch Times has not been able to independently corroborate these reports.
No party has claimed responsibility for the two consecutive days of exploding electronic devices, but Hezbollah leaders and Lebanese government officials have pointed the blame at Israel. These blasts also come amid months of fighting between Hezbollah and Israeli forces along the Israel-Lebanon border.
Israeli officials have avoided any direct comment about the wave of electronic devices exploding across Lebanon this week, but have indicated they’re preparing to ramp up their fight with Hezbollah. This battle, which began in October, has forced more than 80,000 residents across northern Israel and southern Lebanon to flee their homes.
In a Wednesday video statement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed his government “will return the residents of the north securely to their homes.”
Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, the Israeli military’s chief of staff, said on Wednesday that Israel’s military has “many capabilities” that it has not yet activated. Halevi added that with each new escalation in the fight, “the price for Hezbollah must be high.”
For now, the U.S. government is urging de-escalation.
“We strongly believe that the best way to reduce the tensions along the Israel-Lebanon border is through diplomacy, and that will continue to be our focus,” Pentagon Press Secretary Gen. Pat Ryder said following the Tuesday pager blasts.
Associated Press, and Reuters contributed to this report.
—Ryan Morgan, Owen Evans
BOOKMARKS
The House Freedom Caucus announced on Wednesday that it has chosen Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.) to be its new chairman. Harris replaces Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.), who lost his reelection primary in July.
Some battleground states’ election laws will allow mail-in ballots to be counted days after the Nov. 5 election, meaning an official result could be delayed. In Pennsylvania, for example, the certification deadline allows ballot counting to go on for 20 days after the election, as long as ballots are received by 8 p.m. on election day.
The Federal Reserve has announced it will cut interest rates by .5 percent, which is the first cut in four years. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell warned that cuts this significant will not necessarily be the norm, saying: “We can go quicker or slower, or pause, on rate cuts if it is appropriate.”
The Houthis, a Yemeni terrorist group, have shot down a U.S. MQ-9 drone valued at $30 million, Pentagon officials confirmed on Wednesday. The Houthis claim to have destroyed 10 such drones, but Defense Department spokesman Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder says that number is exaggerated.
The U.S. military sent 100 soldiers and advanced missile artillery to Alaska this week in response to Russian military drills in the Aleutian Islands. Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) of the Senate Armed Services Committee said that as global tensions heighten, “Alaska continues to be on the frontlines of authoritarian aggression.”
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters union has declined to endorse either Kamala Harris or Donald Trump for president this election; the last time it gave no endorsement was 1966. Teamsters General President Sean O’Brien said neither candidate was willing to commit to the Teamster’s requests “not to interfere in critical union campaigns or core Teamsters industries—and to honor our members’ right to strike.”
—Stacy Robinson
