How Donald Trump is embroiled in a dirty fight over illegal immigrants' voting rights that could lead to a government shutdown in just 26 days

Congress is once again facing a possible government shutdown that could plunge the Capitol into chaos, and Republican leaders are in turmoil.

Republicans in the House of Representatives, led by Speaker Mike Johnson, are working on a path to a federal funding package that must be passed by September 30.

But during a House Republican conference call on Tuesday morning, some lawmakers expressed concerns about how the party would proceed in the fight over funding and whether they should use their influence to tie the funding agreement to a law requiring citizenship to certify elections.

The conservative law, called the “SAVE Act,” would require proof of citizenship to participate in the presidential election and is supported by Trump.

Time is running out, because if there is no agreement within 26 days, there is a risk of a government shutdown. But that doesn't seem to bother former President Donald Trump.

“I would shut down the government immediately if they don't get it,” Trump said last week on the “Monica Crowley Show” about the bill.

Republican Speaker Mike Johnson floated the idea of ​​passing a so-called permanence resolution (CR) to maintain current levels of state funding through March, according to sources familiar with Tuesday's conference call.

“It should be in the bill. And if it's not in the bill, they want to stop it,” Trump said. “So I'm not on it, but I have influence.”

Johnson's biggest challenge is balancing Trump's desire for the SAVE Act on the one hand and the Democrats' threat to block the deal if the law is tied to the funding agreement on the other.

When the SAVE Act came up for a single vote in July, only five Democrats joined all Republicans in voting for it.

And Republicans, who hold a narrow majority, would have to rely on the same members again to pass the short-term funding bill for the government through March 2025 (the so-called CR).

But the democratic leadership is taking vehement action against the CR by including the measure to take migrants' right to vote into account.

Republicans want to keep spending levels at the same level as the last interim funding bill that Congress passed earlier this year.

In addition, Democrats in the Senate have indicated that the financing bill, if it includes electoral reforms, would be doomed to failure in the upper house if it were passed.

“As we have said at every CR meeting, we can only get things done in a bipartisan manner, and that has happened every time,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., wrote in a recent statement.

Regardless, some Republicans are putting pressure on Johnson to pass the voting bill because they believe the move will resonate with voters.

A group of migrants from Asia sit near the US-Mexico border in Arizona waiting for a Border Patrol ride to a processing center. Republicans have said non-citizen voting in US elections could affect the outcome

Former President Donald Trump has made immigration and border security a central focus of his campaign, even visiting the US-Mexico border in Arizona in recent weeks.

“I won my last election by 10,000 votes,” Senator Rick Scott (Republican of Florida) said on Fox News on Wednesday. “That's important. If Chuck Schumer decides he doesn't want to bring it up, then Chuck Schumer will decide he wants to shut down the government.”

“We're saying we want to fund the government and we should do that by next year. So the next president has an opportunity to make sure he gets the budget in order. And we should make sure non-citizens don't vote,” Scott added.

Trump said he would shut down the government because of the SAVE Act if he could

The state of Virginia recently audited its voter rolls and found that there were over 6,300 noncitizens on the rolls who had “attempted to register to vote,” reinforcing Republican concerns about illegal immigrant turnout in U.S. elections.

And Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton also recently launched an investigation into noncitizen voting in some of the state's most heavily Latino-populated counties.

“I think you're going to see a CR with the Save Act … the Senate needs to pass this and also secure our election in November,” Republican Rep. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania said Wednesday.

“When it comes to spending, the House of Representatives has no willing partner in the Senate. They have failed to pass budget legislation in the plenary.”

Senator Rick Scott (R-Fla.) pointed out that the SAVE Act could have influenced his own election, which he said was decided by 10,000 votes.

However, not all Republicans are convinced that Johnson's plan to put pressure on the Democrats in the Senate will work.

During Tuesday's conference call, some Republicans reportedly expressed concern that Schumer and Senate Democrats could remove the SAVE Act from the funding package, turning the tables and making them appear to be instigators of a potential shutdown.

Rep. Nick LaLota (RN.Y.), who holds a more moderate seat, reportedly spoke on the conference call and mentioned that as many as ten Republicans could lose their seats in the event of an actual government shutdown.

Nevertheless, the SAVE Act is a central part of the Republican Party's message on immigration and border security.

It is also a question of election integrity, say Republicans, and that is a popular topic among members.

The bill would close all loopholes that allow people to register to vote without proof of U.S. citizenship or photo ID. All 50 states would have to remove all illegal immigrants from their voter rolls. Penalties of up to five years in prison would be introduced for election officials who register noncitizens as voters. Voters abroad would also be required to show proof of citizenship.

Democrats claim there are already laws prohibiting non-citizens from participating in US elections

The SAVE Act would require voters to prove their identity with national identity cards, passports, birth certificates or other official documents.

Most ballots require proof of identity, such as a driver's license, for voter registration.

Not all of these forms of identification require citizenship. The bill would specifically require identification documents such as passports or birth certificates.

But the risky move of tying the SAVE Act to the funding bills could backfire, as some want the passage of individual appropriations bills rather than another CR.

Traditional Republicans insisted that the House of Representatives must push for passage of twelve separate appropriations bills – one to fund each government agency.

The House of Representatives has so far passed six appropriations bills, but plans to vote on more were scrapped after policy disagreements arose.

The Senate has not yet passed one.

Even if both chambers were to pass all twelve bills, they would then have to meet and negotiate twelve bills that could find a majority in both chambers.