GOP Pennsylvania lawmakers vote no on averting a federal government shutdown

Bipartisan majorities in Congress voted on Sept. 25 to approve a three-month stopgap spending bill and avoid a partial federal government shutdown. Dozens of Republican lawmakers opposed the legislation, however, after former President Donald Trump demanded they shut down the government unless Democrats agreed to last-minute changes to election laws that could have prevented 13 million U.S. citizens from voting.

With the funding for the operation of the federal government set to expire at the end of September, the House of Representatives approved a continuing resolution to keep it operating until Dec. 20 and increase funding for the Secret Service by a vote of 341-82. The Senate then approved the legislation by a vote of 78-18, sending it to President Joe Biden, who backed the effort. All no votes in both chambers were cast by Republicans.

For weeks, Trump pushed Republicans to block any continuing resolution unless it was paired with the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, a Republican-backed bill that would require citizens to provide specific forms of identification to prove their eligibility to vote and would increase voter roll purges. Supporters claim the SAVE Act would curb noncitizen voting, which is statistically nonexistent and already prohibited.

“If Republicans don’t get the SAVE Act, and every ounce of it, they should not agree to a Continuing Resolution in any way, shape, or form,” Trump posted on social media. “BE SMART, REPUBLICANS, YOU’VE BEEN PUSHED AROUND LONG ENOUGH BY THE DEMOCRATS. DON’T LET IT HAPPEN AGAIN.”

But the House Republican majority could not muster the required votes to pass a six-month stopgap bill with that legislation attached, failing on a 202-220 vote on Sept. 18.

Both Pennsylvania Democratic Sens. Bob Casey and John Fetterman voted in favor of the stopgap, as did most of the commonwealth’s House delegation; Republican Reps. John Joyce and Scott Perry both voted no.

“Asking the American People to fund our government at Pelosi levels through a Continuing Resolution with no policy changes or wins for Citizens is a damned shame,” Perry posted on social media. “I reject the idea of being forced into a CR that merely extends the same failed spending and policies, which consistently favor the Left and – much more importantly – are economically crushing the American People and our Country.”

Perry faces a competitive November reelection race against Democratic nominee Janelle Stelson. 

According to the website Tri-State Alert, Joyce told reporters on Sept. 24: “I’ve talked to many different constituents throughout the district and Pennsylvania families cannot afford the continued reckless spending. I think that message resonates with me that is Biden/Harris administration policy and this continuing resolution, it continues that runaway spending that I have voted against in the past, and while you know, I respect Speaker Johnson, I’ve talked about that with you all before, this bill does not include the SAVE Act.“

Shutdowns have long been shown to be damaging to the economy, hurt public servants, and leave Americans unable to access vital government services. 

Without operational funding, the federal government can only provide the most essential of functions, and no federal workers receive pay for their work. This means no food safety inspections, no processing of Social Security applications, and no services for veterans. 

Trump forced the longest partial government shutdown in U.S. history in December 2018 and January 2019. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated at the end of it that it had reduced the nation’s gross domestic product by about $8 billion.

Ohio Republican Sen. J.D. Vance did not show up to vote on the stopgap bill; according to the Washington Post, Vance has missed every vote in the Senate since Trump selected him to be his running mate on July 15.