Republican Party in US House of Representatives instigate dispute over non-citizen voting rights in bill to avert government shutdown • Iowa Capital Dispatch

WASHINGTON — As Congress returned from a five-week recess on Monday, House Republicans added a provision to a stopgap bill to fund Congress that would ban noncitizens from voting in federal elections — something that is already illegal — setting up a battle with the Senate and the White House.

The Republican push in Congress mirrors efforts by state lawmakers to push through bills this November that would ban noncitizens from voting in Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Wisconsin.

Moreover, this is happening in the midst of the presidential election campaign, as Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has repeatedly called for mass deportations of undocumented immigrants and will face Democratic candidate Vice President Kamala Harris in a crucial debate on Tuesday evening.

Current federal government spending expires on October 1, so Congress must pass a continuation resolution (CR) to authorize temporary spending beyond that date or risk a shutdown.

The measure, passed by U.S. House Republicans and some vulnerable Democrats in July, requiring proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections, was added by House Republicans to a CR that would extend the spending until March 28. A vote in the House is expected this week.

The White House announced on Monday that President Joe Biden would veto the measure if Congress passed it in this form.

“Instead of addressing the nation's security and disaster needs, this bill contains cynical legislation that does nothing to secure our elections, but instead makes it much harder for all eligible Americans to register to vote and increases the risk of eligible voters being purged from the voter rolls,” the White House said in a statement on Monday. “It is already illegal for noncitizens to vote in federal elections – it is a federal crime punishable by imprisonment and fines.”

Opposition in the Senate

The wording of the vote is a no-go for the Democrats in the Senate, who have a narrow majority in the chamber.

“As we have repeatedly stressed, avoiding a government shutdown requires bipartisan action, not a bill drafted by one party alone,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Patty Murray of Washington said in a joint statement on Friday.

“If Speaker Johnson pushes House Republicans down this highly partisan path, the likelihood of a shutdown will increase significantly, and Americans will know that the responsibility for it lies with House Republicans,” they continued.

Democrats argue that the bill is an attempt to sow distrust in the US elections ahead of the November election.

Louisiana House Speaker Mike Johnson has stressed that noncitizen voting in federal elections is a problem, even though studies have shown that it rarely occurs.

“As the 2024 election approaches, it is imperative that Congress do everything in its power to protect the integrity of our nation's electoral system,” he said in a statement.

Trump also supports the bill.

In April, Johnson announced at Trump's Palm Beach, Florida, residence that the House of Representatives would pass a noncitizen voting bill. The former president has often falsely cited the large number of undocumented people voting for his opponent Hillary Clinton in 2016 as the reason for his popular vote defeat.

Other Democrats opposed passing a CR that would be valid until next year.

The top Democrat on the House Budget Committee, Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, criticized the six-month measure because it “shortchanges veterans and jeopardizes their care by delaying the issue until March.”

“Provisional ratification by the end of March gives Republicans more leverage to push through their unpopular cuts to the benefits that American families rely on to make ends meet,” she said in a statement.

Texas congressman pushes for bill

The original noncitizen voting rights bill, HR8281, was first introduced by Texas Republican Rep. Chip Roy, a member of the far-right House Freedom Caucus. It passed by a vote of 221 to 198, with five Democrats voting with the Republicans, but failed to advance in the Senate.

The five Democrats who voted for the measure are: Representatives Jared Golden of Maine, Henry Cuellar of Texas, Donald Davis of North Carolina, Vicente Gonzalez of Texas and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington.

Under current U.S. law, only citizens may vote in federal elections, but the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 prohibits states from confirming citizenship status.

In addition to the ballot bills, hundreds of Republican state lawmakers also signed a letter from the Only Citizens Vote Coalition calling on Congress to pass a law banning non-citizens from voting in federal elections.

The Only Citizens Vote coalition includes voter refusers, organizations led by former Trump aides and anti-immigrant groups. It was founded by Cleta Mitchell, a key figure who tried to overturn the 2020 presidential election and who now leads a grassroots organization aggressively monitoring the November election.

In five of the eight states where ballot proposals are up for vote—Idaho, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Wisconsin—there are state legislators who have introduced bills to raise the issue and signed Only Citizens Vote's letter.