Calling it “unserious and unacceptable,” House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries rejected on Monday a proposal from Speaker Mike Johnson that links continued government funding for six months with a measure to require proof of citizenship when registering to vote.

The response frames the spending battle to come over the next weeks as lawmakers work to reach consensus on a short-term spending bill that would prevent a partial government shutdown when the new fiscal year begins Oct. 1. Lawmakers hope to avoid a shutdown just weeks before voters go to the polls.

Johnson is punting the final decisions on full-year spending into next year when a new president and Congress take over. He’s doing so at the urging of members within his conference who believe that Republicans will be in a better position next year to secure the funding and policy priorities they want.

  • Xenny@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    7
    ·
    3 months ago

    They don’t want a national ID system because then they couldn’t pull any of this garbage and obstruct people’s right to vote.

    • LordCrom@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      3 months ago

      Don’t we already have a national id in social security number tied to our personal profile?

      • Xenny@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        3 months ago

        Only as a byproduct of social security itself. It’s really just people taking advantage of the fact we’re all assigned a unique number. It was not really originally intended to do anything but access social security so it lacks information required for proper identification. Also most things that need ID require 2 forms of it so social security card alone won’t cut it.

        You can’t use you social security card to apply for a home in most states. Need a full on state id or some other photo identification.