lawmakers face government shutdown deadline amid controversial voting Bill proposal lawmakers are returning to work after their August break and have just three weeks to figure out how to avoid a government shutdown they need to pass a funding plan by October 1st to keep the government running because there's not much time they will likely pass a temporary funding measure known as a continuing resolution to keep things going for a few more months while they work on a longer term budget House Republicans have been discussing their strategy for these negotiations they want to propose a temporary funding plan that will last until March 28th however they also want to attach a controversial Bill to the funding Plan called the save act this bill would require people to prove they are US citizens before they can register to vote in federal elections the bill is aimed at preventing illegal voting by non-citizens even though current laws already only allow US citizens to vote in federal elections Speaker of the House Mike Johnson talked about this