Schumer Warns Shutdown Will Continue If Major Proposal Is Added To Funding Package
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer threatened Monday that Democrats would let the partial government shutdown drag on if House Republicans include the SAVE Act — a voter citizenship verification proposal — in upcoming funding legislation. The measure, led by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, would require states to collect documentary proof of U.S. citizenship to register voters.
Schumer denounced the proposal in harsh terms, claiming it amounted to voter suppression. “The SAVE Act would impose Jim Crow-type laws to the entire country and is dead on arrival in the Senate,” he said. “It is a poison pill that will kill any legislation that it is attached to.”
He continued by accusing Republicans of promoting election skepticism. “The SAVE Act seeks to disenfranchise millions of American citizens, seize control of our elections, and fan the flames of election denialism,” Schumer said. “Republicans want to restore Jim Crow and apply it from one end of this country to the other. It will not happen.”
Rep. Luna fired back, posting that the act would only be blocked if Democrats remained united or if GOP leadership failed to take bolder procedural action. “The SAVE Act is dead on arrival unless Thune removes the filibuster or Democrats break from Schumer to save their own billions of dollars in projects,” she wrote.
Under a prior agreement between the White House and Senate Democrats, five appropriations bills and a short-term continuing resolution for the Department of Homeland Security were sent to the House. That plan was designed to let immigration negotiations continue separately, without triggering a broader shutdown.
However, any changes made by the House — such as adding the SAVE Act — would force the bills back to the Senate, raising the likelihood of delay or collapse in the negotiations. Speaker Mike Johnson appeared Sunday on “Meet the Press” and said Republicans want to keep the government open and reach a deal quickly.
“Our intention is by Tuesday, all agencies of the federal government, except for that one, and then we’ll have two weeks of good faith negotiations, to figure it out,” Johnson said, referring to the DHS funding deadline. “Republicans are going do the responsible thing and fund the government.”
The dispute adds another layer of complication to an already tense budget standoff, which has seen both sides leveraging high-stakes demands. The House Rules Committee is set to meet Monday afternoon to move the funding package forward. But Schumer’s warning makes clear that Democrats are ready to let the shutdown continue if the SAVE Act moves forward.