House Speaker Mike Johnson is heeding the demands of the more conservative wing of his Republican conference and has teed up a vote this week on a bill that would keep the federal government funded for six more months and require states to obtain proof of citizenship, such as a birth certificate or passport, when registering a person to vote.

Congress needs to approve a stop-gap spending bill before the end of the budget year on Sept. 30 to avoid a government shutdown just a few weeks before voters go the polls and elect the next president.

Johnson’s decision to combine the proof of citizenship mandate with government funding complicates prospects for getting that task done. The bill is not expected to go anywhere in the Democratic-controlled Senate, if it even makes it that far.

But the effort could help Johnson, R-La., next year should House Republicans retain their majority and he seeks to become speaker again. The vote also could give Republicans an issue to go after Democrats in competitive swing districts as Republicans make immigration-related matters a campaign cornerstone.

Democrats will oppose the GOP effort overwhelmingly and warn that any continuing resolution must have buy-in from both political parties. They said Johnson was making the same mistake then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., did a year ago as he tried to placate conservatives. In the end, they rejected his efforts, forcing him to rely on Democrats to get a temporary spending bill passed.

Mother warned school about shooting suspect

The mother of the 14-year-old who has been charged with murder over the fatal shooting of four people at his Georgia high school called the school before the killings, warning staff of an “extreme emergency” involving her son, a relative said.

Annie Brown told the Washington Post that her sister, Colt Gray’s mother, texted her saying she spoke with a school counselor and urged them to “immediately” find her son to check on him.

Brown provided screen shots of the text exchange to the newspaper, which also reported that a call log from the family’s shared phone plan showed a call was made to the school about 30 minutes before gunfire is believed to have erupted.

Brown confirmed the reporting to The Associated Press on Saturday in text messages but declined to provide further comment.

Colt Gray, 14, has been charged with murder over the killing of two students and two teachers at Apalachee High School in Barrow County, outside Atlanta, on Wednesday. His father, Colin Gray, is accused of second-degree murder for providing his son with a semiautomatic AR 15-style rifle.

Their attorneys declined to immediately seek bail during their first court appearance on Friday.

Searchers in Kentucky scour hill for suspect

Authorities searched a rugged, hilly area of southeastern Kentucky on Sunday for a man suspected in the weekend shooting of nine vehicles and wounding of five people on a busy interstate.

Joseph A. Couch, 32, was named a suspect in Saturday’s shootings on Interstate 75 after authorities said they recovered his SUV on a service road near the crime scene. They later found a semi-automatic weapon nearby that they believe was used in the shooting, said Deputy Gilbert Acciardo, a spokesperson for the Laurel County Sheriff’s Office.

The search was focused on a remote area north of London, a community of about 8,000 people some 75 miles (120 kilometers) south of Lexington.

During an early evening media briefing, Acciardo said that if the searchers failed to find Crouch before nightfall, the search would resume early Monday morning.

Couch — who earlier this year faced a later-dropped misdemeanor charge for “terroristic threatening,” according to court records — most recently lived in Woodbine, a small community about 20 miles (32 kilometers) south of the shooting scene. Acciardo said authorities found his abandoned vehicle Saturday and then an AR-15 rifle on Sunday in a wooded area near a highway where “he could have shot down upon the interstate from.” A phone believed to be Couch’s was also found by law enforcement, but the battery had been taken out.

Couch was initially considered a person of interest in the case until he was upgraded to a suspect on Sunday, Acciardo said.

Authorities believe there was only one shooter.

Lightning could worsen wildfire east of LA

An out-of-control wildfire in the foothills of a national forest east of Los Angeles threatened ten of thousands of buildings and forced hundreds of residents to flee Sunday amid a days-long heat wave of triple-digit temperatures.

The so-called Line Fire was burning along the edge of the San Bernardino National Forest, about 65 miles (105 kilometers) east of Los Angeles. As of Sunday morning, the blaze had charred about 27 square miles (70 square kilometers) of grass and chaparral, leaving a thick cloud of dark smoke blanketing the area.

The fire burned so hot Saturday that it created its own thunderstorm-like weather systems of pyroculumus clouds, which could bring more challenging conditions such as gusty winds and lightning strikes, according to the National Weather Service. Firefighters also faced steep terrain, which limited their ability to control the blaze, officials said. The fire remained uncontained Sunday afternoon.

County officials, who declared an emergency Saturday evening, issued evacuation orders for Running Springs, Arrowbear Lake, areas east of Highway 330 and other regions.

Presidential candidate González flees Venezuela

Former Venezuelan presidential candidate Edmundo González arrived in Spain on Sunday after fleeing into exile in as part of a negotiated deal with Nicolás Maduro’s government that dealt a major blow to millions who placed their hopes in his opposition campaign.

The surprise departure of the man considered by Venezuela’s opposition and several foreign governments to be the legitimate winner of July 28 presidential election was announced late Saturday by Venezuelan officials who just a few days ago ordered his arrest.

González landed Sunday at a military airport near Madrid, accompanied by his wife and Spanish officials.

Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado tried to put a positive spin on his departure, assuring Venezuelans the 75-year-old retired diplomat would be back on Jan. 10 for a swearing-in ceremony marking the start of the next presidential term.

Tropical system could reach U.S. as hurricane

A tropical system in the southwestern Gulf of Mexico was expected to strengthen this week into a tropical storm and dump heavy rains onto Mexico and Texas before reaching the U.S. as a potential hurricane, the National Weather Service said Sunday.

The system, about 340 miles (545 kilometers) south-southeast of the mouth of the Rio Grande, had maximum 50 mph wind speeds (85 kilometers per hour) on Sunday and was forecast to drift slowly northwestward. Forecasters said it was too early to pinpoint the exact track of the storm and its potential impacts but warned that the upper Texas and Louisiana coastlines could see damaging winds and storm surges beginning Tuesday evening.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott put state emergency responders on increased readiness and warned of the potential of flash flooding and heavy rains.

— From news services