Washington — After taking a Summer break, both the House of Representatives and Senate returned on Monday — just in time to pass a new budget, to avoid a government shutdown.

In three weeks, the government will shut down — similar to the 2018-2019 shutdown — unless both the House and Senate can agree on how to fund the future of the government.

Congress will need to pass another stopgap also known as a continuing measure, which is a temporary resolution, that will expire and is supposed to be replaced with something better.

If Congress were to fail to pass a continuing resolution, the government would shut down, until they have done so. That would put federal parks, federal agencies, and some public services to a halt.

As that occurs, an election is also soon to occur. In which, all 435 Representatives in the House have their seats up for grabs. Plus, a high-stakes presidential election is ongoing.

Republicans have already unveiled their stopgap funding bill — which will likely be tweaked — that would keep the government funded until March of 2025. That is, after the election, the political landscape in the House and Senate will be changed.

The resolution — proposed by Republicans — stops the shutdown but adds the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act (SAVE).
SAVE, if passed, tightens the rules for showing proof of American citizenship before being allowed to vote.

“Congress has a responsibility to do both, and we must ensure that only American citizens can decide American elections,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said.

Democrats criticized the proposal right away, “avoiding a government shutdown requires bipartisanship, not a bill drawn up by one party,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray said in a statement.

“Speaker Johnson is making the same mistake as former Speaker McCarthy did a year ago, by wasting precious time catering to the hard MAGA right.”
Former Speaker of the House, Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), was uphended from his seat after proposing a “bipartisan” budget. The impeachment was led by Republican representative Matt Gaetz (R-FL) — Biggs, Buck, Burchett, Crane, Gaetz, Good, Mace and Rosendale voted in favor.

Congress has three weeks to get a CR passed as the first proposal doesn’t look likely to pass the Democratic-run Senate.