President Donald Trump is pressing House lawmakers to approve a Senate-amended spending package without changes to end a partial federal government shutdown that began early Saturday. The debate has also drawn in GOP demands tied to the SAVE Act, which would require documentary proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote—an idea Democrats say would block any final deal.
The federal government has been partially shut down since funding lapsed at 12:01 a.m. ET on Saturday, Jan. 31, after Congress failed to complete final action on fiscal 2026 appropriations.
On Monday, President Donald Trump called on the House to approve the pending spending package without changes, arguing that any revisions could prolong the funding lapse. In a message posted on Truth Social, Trump wrote, “There can be NO CHANGES at this time,” and said he was working with House Speaker Mike Johnson to get the bill signed quickly. Trump added that lawmakers could keep negotiating related disputes afterward, but urged members to vote yes to avoid what he described as another damaging shutdown.
The political standoff has been sharpened by Republican pressure to attach the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, legislation that would require documentary proof of U.S. citizenship for voter registration. Some House Republicans, including Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida, have pushed to include it in the funding fight.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, has said adding the SAVE Act would derail the spending deal. Schumer wrote on X that the SAVE Act is “nothing more than Jim Crow 2.0” and said Senate Democrats would oppose any bill that included it.
The funding package at the center of the dispute was shaped by a late-January Senate compromise that, according to the Senate Appropriations Committee’s Democratic leadership, advanced five fiscal 2026 appropriations bills and separated out the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) measure while negotiators continued talks over immigration enforcement policy. Senate Democrats said the revised approach created a short window to renegotiate DHS funding and related enforcement issues.
As the House prepared to take up the Senate-amended package, the House Rules Committee met to begin the procedural steps needed to bring the legislation to the floor. Johnson told reporters on Monday that lawmakers would reopen the government.
During the Rules Committee hearing, Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, said she planned to support the package, arguing it would buy time for further negotiations. The Daily Wire reported that DeLauro’s remarks were attributed to the Washington Examiner.
The White House, congressional leaders and rank-and-file lawmakers have indicated they want the shutdown to be brief, but the outcome depends on whether the House passes the Senate-amended bill without changes—an approach Trump and Senate negotiators have warned is essential to avoid extending the funding lapse.
