The bill allocates additional conditional funding for the Secret Service following two attempted assassinations of former President Donald Trump.
House Republican leaders unveiled a short-term measure on Sept. 22 to fund the government through Dec. 20.
The bill was introduced eight days before the Sept. 30 deadline to fund the government and prevent a government shutdown.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) stated in a letter to colleagues that a continuing resolution is the only viable option to avoid a government shutdown due to the Senate’s failure to pass any of the year’s 12 appropriations bills.
Fourteen Republicans and 206 Democrats voted against the bill. Some Republicans opposed the measure outright, while others criticized the SAVE Act inclusion as a symbolic gesture with no chance of becoming law before Election Day.
Democrats argued that the six-month stopgap pushed the deadline too far into the future and deemed the SAVE Act unnecessary due to existing laws prohibiting voting by illegal immigrants.
Conditional Secret Service Funding
While mostly clean, the measure includes extra funding for the Secret Service. This additional funding was proposed following two assassination attempts against former President Donald Trump.
The resolution allocates an additional $231 million for the Secret Service on top of the $3 billion the agency received for fiscal 2024.
The legislation imposes conditions requiring the Secret Service director to provide an itemized list outlining the funding usage within 30 days of the bill’s passage. It also mandates prompt compliance with Congress’s requests for documents and information related to the assassination attempts against the former president.
Following the event, President Joe Biden emphasized the need for increased support for the Secret Service and urged Congress to boost funding for the agency.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer indicated that the Senate is willing to provide additional funding for the Secret Service.
“Congress has a responsibility to ensure the Secret Service and all law enforcement agencies have the necessary resources to carry out their duties,” Schumer stated on the Senate floor on Sept. 16.
“As we progress through the appropriations process, if the Secret Service requires more resources, we are prepared to provide them, possibly in the upcoming funding agreement.”
Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe highlighted the agency’s need for increased funding and ongoing discussions with Congress.
The House unanimously approved expanding the task force investigating the July 13 assassination attempt at a Trump campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Sept. 20. The Secret Service intervened and neutralized the would-be assassin, who was positioned on a nearby warehouse rooftop.
The Sept. 15 apparent assassination attempt occurred when a Secret Service agent spotted a gun barrel through a perimeter fence at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, where Trump was playing golf. Trump was over 500 yards away from the incident.
Mark Tapscott contributed to this report.
