Lawmakers return to Capitol Hill with 3 weeks until government shut down

Congress is on the brink of a government shutdown. Again.

Monday marks the House and the Senate's first day back on Capitol Hill after a month-long summer break, and the clock is ticking with three weeks until government funding expires on Sept. 30.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, has proposed a stopgap funding bill to keep the federal government open for business through March 2025. His makeshift plan would keep the government funded for six months and avoid a potentially messy end-of-year staredown in Congress.

But there's a catch.

A controversial catch: Proof of citizenship to vote

Johnson's plan could come with a potential poison pill: The Republican speaker may decide to attach a bill requiring people to prove they're citizens to register to vote. Under that legislation, states must begin to require proof of citizenship to register to vote within 30 days of the bill's enactment, or just before the November election.

It is already illegal for non-citizens to vote in U.S. federal elections, and independent studies have shown that there is no evidence that large numbers of people cast votes illegally. But former President Donald Trump has made it a focus of his presidential campaign against Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris, and President Joe Biden has already threatened to veto the measure.

While the House and the Senate work out an agreement, the likelihood of a government shutdown is minimal ahead of November's general election, which could negatively impact both parties.

Senator John Cornyn, R-Texas, told Fox News Sunday that the GOP-led voting legislation has become "a partisan issue, which is amazing to me, but I don't think there will be a shutdown."

What happens if the government shuts down?

On Capitol Hill, tens of thousands of congressional staff will go without a paycheck for the duration of the shutdown while lawmakers continue to work and receive pay.

If the government is unable to pass a spending bill by Sept. 30, all federal agencies except those that are "essential"—including the U.S. Postal Service, Medicare, and Social Security—will halt their work. Other consequences of a shutdown include furloughs for federal employees, delayed government food assistance benefits, and closures of national parks.

Passport applications may be halted during a shutdown, but air traffic controllers, customs agents, and border agents will continue to work. Without pay for working controllers or training for new FAA employees, the airline industry and travelers could be impacted.

At least 21 federal shutdowns have occurred over the last five decades. Congress voted to approve the previous stopgap funding measure with just hours left before the government was to shut down in March 2024.

This article originally appeared on Staunton News Leader: Congress has 3 weeks to avoid shut down. What to know.