WASHINGTON — A handful of U.S. Senate Republicans called Wednesday for the chamber to pass a bill to keep the government open that would also require proof of citizenship to register to vote in federal elections to deter voting by people who are not citizens, something that is rare and already illegal.

Republican Sens. Rick Scott of Florida, Mike Lee of Utah, Roger Marshall of Kansas, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and Tommy Tuberville of Alabama urged the chamber to take the House’s approach to a stopgap government funding bill by adding the proof-of-citizenship measure.

“We have to make sure we ensure that there’s actually zero fraud,” Scott said.

The senators argued that because elections can be decided by as little as a few hundred votes, legislation requiring proof of citizenship is needed.

“Protecting the integrity of our system by requiring proof of citizenship isn’t controversial. It’s actually common sense,” Marshall said. “Just as we have laws to prevent speeding, we need laws to prevent illegal voting.”

Shutdown politics

The press conference came hours after U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana pulled the stopgap spending bill from heading to a floor vote after several House Republicans came out against it.

Congress must pass a bill to fund the government by the end of the month to avoid a partial government shutdown.

Scott said he and the other speakers Wednesday did not support shutting the government down over including the provision.

“Nobody up here wants to shut down the government,” Scott said.

Lee introduced the Senate version of the House bill, S. 4292.

“Look, we all know that elections, including and especially presidential elections, tend to be decided within a pretty narrow range, in fact, within a few states, and very often within just a few counties nationwide,” Lee said. “And it would be folly for us to leave open this vulnerability.”

Johnson blamed the Biden administration for its immigration policy and claimed that the administration was paroling immigrants into the country in order to vote for Democrats.

“I can think of no other reason than to bring in a bunch of people, very grateful to you, and encourage them and facilitate their ability to vote unlawfully,” Johnson said.

Tuberville, who was sworn into Congress three days before the Jan. 6 insurrection on the U.S. Capitol, said the legislation is needed so that people can have confidence in their elections.

“What’s (going to) happen, if we do not show the American people that the elections are (going to) be fair and they’re (going to) be satisfied with the outcome, no matter whether Republicans win or Democrats win, you are going to have hell to pay in this country,” he said. “It’s coming, and I’m not so sure that’s not what the Democrats want.”

The House passed the election bill in July, but it has gone nowhere in the Senate, where Democrats hold a slim majority.

Democratic Senate leaders have also opposed attaching the bill to government funding and the White House has already said President Joe Biden would veto such a measure.

The provision is supported by former President Donald Trump, the current GOP presidential nominee, who urged congressional Republicans to force a government shutdown if Democrats don’t accept the GOP’s inclusion of the voting bill.