House Republicans want to vote on stopgap funding bill on Wednesday

Republican US House Speaker Mike Johnson intends to hold a vote on Wednesday on a six-month stopgap federal funding measure, Punchbowl News reported on Tuesday, citing unnamed sources.

Unless a stopgap spending bill is sent to President Joe Biden before midnight on Sept. 30, the end of the current government fiscal year, many agencies will cease to operate and thousands of federal workers will be forced to leave their jobs for lack of funds.

Last week, Johnson had to shelve his efforts to pass a spending bill when it became clear he did not have enough support for it from Republican lawmakers.

Any spending bill would also have to pass the Senate, where the Democratic majority opposes Republican efforts to attach an unrelated bill that would require people to show proof of citizenship when registering to vote.

A government shutdown could rankle voters in the weeks leading up to the Nov. 5 election, in which control of the House of Representatives and the Senate are at stake.

The last government shutdown occurred in late 2018 and lasted well into January 2019.

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