GOP Nebraska 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.

All three Nebraska Republicans in the House voted in favor of the stopgap; Republican Sens. Deb Fischer and Pete Ricketts both voted no. 

“Republicans insisted for weeks that the Senate needed to accomplish what we were elected to do: support our national defense and pass our funding bills in regular order,” Fischer posted on social media. “Instead, Senator Schumer chose to spend his time on partisan show votes he knew would fail. I can’t support his decision to force a last minute vote.”

Fischer faces a competitive November reelection race against independent candidate Dan Osborn. 

“Sen. Fischer can’t even work with her own party to accomplish the most basic tasks in Congress. She would rather play typical political games and shut down the government, hurting seniors, veterans, and border patrol agents,” an Osborn campaign spokesperson told the Nebraska Independent in an email. “In the Senate, Dan Osborn will work with anyone to get things done for Nebraska. He won’t play games with the paychecks of our soldiers, sailors, and airmen.”

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

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.