Speaker Johnson’s funding plan expected to fail as shutdown deadline approaches
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(WASHINGTON) — House Speaker Mike Johnson on Wednesday will forge ahead with a vote on his government funding plan despite it being expected to fail.
“We’ll see what happens with the bill,” Johnson told reporters. “The quarterback’s calling the play. We’re going to run the play. I’m very confident.”
Johnson’s measure would fund the government for six months but also includes the SAVE Act, a bill backed by GOP leadership and former President Donald Trump that would require individuals to provide proof of U.S. citizenship to vote. Democrats have said the legislation is a non-starter, noting it is already illegal for non-citizens to cast a ballot in federal elections.
Johnson was set to try to pass the funding plan last week but pulled it from the floor because he didn’t have the votes.
Some Republicans in his caucus oppose the measure because they say it would contribute to the deficit while defense hawks say they won’t vote for it because the six-month extension would effect the Department of Defense’s readiness.
Still, he’s dug in on the measure and is not talking about what the next steps should be if it fails. Congress needs to pass a funding measure before Oct. 1 to avoid a shutdown.
Trump has openly called for Republicans to let the government close if they don’t pass the SAVE Act. He wrote on his social media platform that if they “don’t get absolute assurances on Election Security, THEY SHOULD, IN NO WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM, GO FORWARD WITH A CONTINUING RESOLUTION ON THE BUDGET.”
Asked about Trump’s comments that Republicans should let funding lapse in such a scenario, Johnson responded “No, look, President Trump and I have talked a lot about this. We talked a lot about it with our colleagues who are building consensus on the plan. We all believe that election security is of preeminent importance right now.”
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, the chamber’s top Republican, said it would be “politically beyond stupid” to allow a shutdown to take place with just seven weeks until Election Day.
“I think we first have to wait and see what the House sends us. My only observation about this whole discussion is the one thing you cannot have is a government shutdown,” McConnell said. “It’d be politically beyond stupid for us to do that right before the election, because certainly we’d get the blame.”
Democrats have urged Johnson to drop his funding plan and bring a clean short-term measure to the floor to keep the government open.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told reporters last week that the only path forward is a bipartisan agreement that does not include “extreme” measures, such as the SAVE Act.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Monday also urged the House to pass a clean bill.
“In order to avoid a shutdown, the worst thing our colleagues in the House can do right now is waste time on proposals that don’t have broad bipartisan support,” Schumer said.
ABC News’ Allison Pecorin, Mariam Khan and Alexandra Hutzler contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — While the presidential race may be getting the spotlight this election season, key regulations, laws and policies are on the ballot in several states.
And those ballot measures could have huge ramifications for the rest of the country.
Forty-one states have a combined 147 ballot measures in the 2024 election. While some measures are hyperlocal, some state initiatives dovetail with national topics.
Here are some of the major ballot initiatives in this election.
Reproductive rights
Since the U.S. Supreme Court overruled Roe v. Wade in 2022, voters in a handful of states have turned to ballot measures to enshrine or expand reproductive access in the face of abortion bans.
Ten states in this election season will give their voters a chance to change their laws on the topic.
Arizona, Florida, Colorado, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska and Nevada all have measures that would amend their state constitutions with specific language to protect or recognize the right to an abortion for all constituents.
Nebraska also has another ballot measure that would change the state constitution to prohibit abortions in the second and third trimesters except for cases of “medical emergency or when the pregnancy results from sexual assault or incest.”
New York state has a ballot measure that would change the constitution’s equal rights amendment to protect against discrimination for pregnancy outcomes, including abortion.
South Dakota voters will decide on a measure that would establish a right to an abortion and add an amendment to the state constitution that would determine when the state may regulate abortions.
Vice President Kamala Harris has repeatedly called for the restoration of the reproductive rights established by Roe v. Wade.
Former President Donald Trump, who has taken credit for helping overturn Roe v. Wade, has said on the campaign trail that the states should decide abortion access and indicated he will vote “no” on Florida’s ballot initiative.
Illinois voters will decide on a measure that would advise state officials on whether to provide for medically assisted reproductive treatments, including in vitro fertilization, to be covered by any health insurance plan in Illinois that provides full coverage to pregnancy benefits.
Immigration, voting rights
Even though it is already illegal for non-documented immigrants to register to vote and cast a ballot in federal and state elections, some leaders in states have been pushing laws and measures to prohibit those groups from casting ballots in local elections.
A handful of municipalities have passed laws allowing some noncitizens to vote in certain local races. For example, non-U.S. citizens who have children attending public schools can vote in school board elections in San Francisco, following a 2016 ballot measure.
This year, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Wisconsin have ballot measures that would prohibit noncitizens from voting in state and local elections.
Proponents have argued these laws would secure elections and prevent localities from allowing non-Americans to vote.
However, opponents have emphasized that non-American citizens cannot vote in state and federal elections and the ballot measures are moot.
Six states have already passed ballot measures banning noncitizens: Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Louisiana, North Dakota and Ohio.
Ranked choice voting
Under a ranked-choice voting system, or RCV, voters cast a ballot ranking their candidates. If a candidate receives more than 50% of the No. 1 ranking, they win the election.
If no candidate receives that 50% majority, the election goes into an instant runoff.
Election officials will look at the ballots and eliminate candidates with the fewest number of No.1 rankings. The ballots that listed the eliminated candidate as the top choice are then re-examined.
The candidates ranked No. 2 on those ballots are tallied, and those votes are transferred to the remaining candidates. The process continues until one candidate reaches the 50% majority.
Alaska and Maine are the only two states in the nation that hold their state and federal elections using RCV, but that could change after this election.
Nevada and Oregon have ballot measures to change their state and federal elections to RCV. The District of Columbia also has a ballot measure that would change local elections to an RCV method.
Missouri would ban the method if its voters pass a ballot measure that also includes banning noncitizens from voting.
A ballot measure in Alaska would repeal its laws that mandate RCV for state and federal elections. Voters approved a measure in the 2020 election with 50.55%. Two years later, the method came under the national spotlight when an instant runoff decided the Senate race.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, the incumbent who did not have the support of Republicans following her vote to convict Trump in his second impeachment trial, went on to win the election following the first elimination round.
Republican-controlled legislatures in 10 states -Tennessee, Florida, Idaho, South Dakota, Montana, Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Oklahoma- have passed laws in the last four years banning RCV from all elections.
LGBTQ+ rights
Voters in a few states will decide on state changes for laws and regulations concerning LGBTQ+ rights.
Colorado and Hawaii voters will vote on a ballot measure that would change their state constitutions to change language and allow same-sex couples the right to marry.
A measure in South Dakota would change male pronouns in the state constitution to gender-neutral terms or titles.
California voters will decide whether to repeal Prop 8, the 2008 voter measure that banned same-sex marriages. The law became invalid after the Supreme Court ruled in 2013 that same-sex marriages were constitutional.
Other major ballot measures
Marijuana laws are potentially up for change in two states this election season.
Florida and South Dakota both have ballot measures that would legalize recreational marijuana for adults over the age of 21. This is South Dakota voters’ third time deciding on the matter in four years.
Voters approved a measure in 2020 to legalize recreational cannabis, but it was struck down by a lawsuit a year later. In 2022, a ballot measure to legalize marijuana failed to pass.
Arizona has a voter initiative that would change state laws to allow for state and local police to arrest noncitizens who cross the border unlawfully and allow for state judges to order deportations.
A North Dakota ballot includes an initiative that would require future ballot measures to be passed by voters in two consecutive elections before it’s approved.
Colorado voters will decide on a measure that, if passed, would levy a 6.5% excise tax on the manufacture and sale of firearms and ammunition. Tax money would go “to fund crime victim services programs, education programs, and mental and behavioral health programs for children and veterans.”
Kentucky has a ballot initiative that would amend the constitution to enable the General Assembly to provide state funding to students who attend private schools.
(WASHINGTON) — With just 36 days until Election Day, the campaign trail is taking a sharp turn toward how Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are responding to the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene and its aftermath.
It’s also one day before the vice presidential debate on Tuesday.
Here’s how the news is developing.
Harris to tour Helene damage in Georgia Wednesday
Vice President Kamala Harris will visit Georgia Wednesday, to tour areas that were hardest hit by Hurricane Helene last week, her office said.
“The Vice President will also provide updates on Federal actions that are being taken to support emergency response and recovery efforts in Georgia and several other states throughout the southeast,” her office said in a statement.
The tour will be at the same time that President Joe Biden visits areas in the Carolinas that were struck hardest by the storm.
-ABC News’ Cheyenne Haslett
Trump claims Musk will help Helene victims
Standing in front of a destroyed furniture store in Valdosta, Georgia, former President Donald Trump claimed he’s requested help from Elon Musk and will be traveling to North Carolina when conditions clear.
“They don’t have communication. … I just spoke to Elon,” he said. “We want to get Starlink hooked up because they have no communication whatsoever. And Elon will always come through.”
“As you know, our country is in the final weeks of a hard-fought national election. But in a time like this when a crisis hits, when our fellow citizens cry out in need, none of that matters,” Trump said before later suggesting the Biden-Harris administration wasn’t doing enough and falsely claiming that Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp couldn’t get ahold of the president.
–ABC News’ Lalee Ibssa, Soorin Kim and Kelsey Walsh
Fact check: Biden and Georgia’s governor have spoken
Trump incorrectly claimed that Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and President Joe Biden haven’t been in touch since Hurricane Helene devastated parts of the Southeast, making clear that his already controversial visit to the hard-hit state is a political one.
“I spoke with, for a couple hours, leaders yesterday affected by the hurricane,” Biden said Monday morning. “Governor Kemp of Georgia, Governor Cooper of North Carolina, county officials in the Big Bend region of Florida and other leaders in South Carolina and Tennessee.”
Kemp on Monday acknowledged the call with Biden and said he and Harris had been trying to speak.
–ABC News’ Cheyenne Haslett and Molly Nagle
Trump claims Biden and Harris not responding to Georgia disaster
Trump claimed Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp is having a hard time getting President Joe Biden on the phone and that the federal government is being unresponsive after Hurricane Helene wrecked the parts of the state.
“The Vice President, she’s out some place campaigning and looking for money,” Trump said after landing in Valdosta, Georgia. “They have to be focused over here.”
Biden approved Kemp’s request for an emergency declaration on Thursday and Harris canceled campaign events Monday to return to Washington for a briefing on the storm and the federal response.
NC leaders ask politicians to stay away
Ahead of his visit to Valdosta, Georgia, Trump posted to Truth Social that he will pay his respects to the community, which was devastated by Hurricane Helene, and bring aid.
Trump added that he was going to stop by damaged communities in North Carolina too, but determined it would be too burdensome on local officials.
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper and Rep. Chuck Edwards, who represents Asheville, North Carolina, told ABC Contributing Political Correspondent Rachael Bade on Sunday night that photo-ops were not welcome. Cooper even asked President Joe Biden and Harris to please not visit the state right now.
–ABC News’ Lalee Ibssa, Soorin Kim and Kelsey Walsh
New York Times endorses Harris
The New York Times endorsed Harris for president in an editorial published Monday morning, calling her “the only patriotic choice for president” and later “the only choice.”
“As a dedicated public servant who has demonstrated care, competence and an unwavering commitment to the Constitution, Ms. Harris stands alone in this race,” the Times’ editorial board wrote. “She may not be the perfect candidate for every voter, especially those who are frustrated and angry about our government’s failures to fix what’s broken — from our immigration system to public schools to housing costs to gun violence. Yet we urge Americans to contrast Ms. Harris’s record with her opponent’s.”
–ABC News’ Oren Oppenheim
Trump heads to Georgia devastation, Harris cancels campaign events and heads to DC for FEMA briefing
Trump is scheduled to visit Valdosta, Georgia, on Monday amid storm wreckage in the area.
Trump, who has been criticizing Harris for not visiting communities damaged by Hurricane Helene, will receive a briefing on the damage from the hurricane, help distribute relief supplies and deliver campaign remarks at a local furniture store in Valdosta, the campaign announced on Sunday.
Harris, meanwhile, is canceling her campaign events and heading back from Las Vegas to get a briefing at FEMA headquarters in Washington on what her campaign says are the “ongoing impacts of Hurricane Helene and the federal actions being taken to support emergency response and recovery efforts across several states.”
Vice President and Presidential nominee Kamala Harris kicks off her New Way Forward Tour with her first rally after the debate in Charlotte, United States on September 12, 2024. (Photo by Peter Zay/Anadolu via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign is releasing a new ad on Friday featuring her closing statement from the ABC News debate when she called for unity and committed to serving all Americans.
The campaign said its live focus group of undecided battleground voters during Tuesday’s debate found those moments to be some of Harris’ strongest.
The news of the ad was first shared with ABC News.
Since the debate, the Harris team says it has been strategizing ways to capitalize on her momentum. The campaign says it has aimed to highlight moments from the debate that underscore the contrast with former President Donald Trump, as well as his answers they found most concerning — including what he said on abortion and Jan. 6, 2021, when an angry mob of Trump supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol.
