Patrick McHenry, a Republican from North Carolina who helped to negotiate the debt ceiling deal with the White Houe. “The Senate will at every turn spend more when left to their own devices. Meanwhile, the US Senate bills include $8 billion in additional funding for defense and $5.7 billion more for non-defense emergency spending. Members want those bills to be cut even more now. But hardliners rebelled and Republicans in the House pushed their bills out of committee at far lower spending levels than what had been agreed to. In the wake of a deal to raise the debt ceiling, White House and House Republican negotiators had agreed on funding levels that could have been a roadmap to quickly hammering out a spending deal between the two chambers and ushering in a quiet fall. The entire exercise looked avoidable months ago.
“That is the reality.”īut even if Republicans could find a deal that would satisfy all concerns of their party, it would be rejected from the US Senate where lawmakers want to pass spending bills at a higher level. “If 99% of Republicans agree, we are still a little short,” Roy said referencing McCarthy’s margin. A special election for his seat won’t be held until after the spending deadline. McCarthy is working with a razor-thin margin and it’s only getting smaller. On Thursday night, talks were well underway between members of the House Freedom Caucus and Main Street Caucus, another Republican faction in the House, to see if they might be able to find a path forward.
House leaders had to pull plans to vote on a defense spending bill this week after they couldn’t find a path forward to pass even a procedural step, launching McCarthy to implore his conference in a private meeting Thursday to pass something to strengthen their negotiating hand in talks with the US Senate. “When you have a shutdown, which there is almost inevitably going to be because the Senate and the White House has no interest in stepping up and defending you all and your interests or this country’s interests … we have to hold the line.” “We are going to have to centralize the fight,” he said. Chip Roy of Texas, who has emerged as a chief negotiator in talks with fellow Republicans, told the audience that a shutdown was likely “inevitable” as he turned the blame on the Senate and White House. On a panel before the Pray, Vote, Stand Summit, conservative Rep. Senate Democrats have telegraphed they won’t accept anything less than a bill at current funding levels while Republicans are swiftly trying to find consensus on a short-term continuing resolution that includes spending cuts and border security. Instead, the House and Senate will have to find a short-term fix to allow them more time to negotiate, but that fight is shaping up to be just as precarious. Here's how that could workĪll sides acknowledge there won’t be enough time before the September 30 deadline for either chamber to pass all 12 appropriations bills and avert a government shutdown. McCarthy faces a threat to oust him as speaker. They don’t seem to think the pain it inflicts on the American people and the economy is a problem.”įrom left, Matt Gaetz and Kevin McCarthy. What is really different this time is we have members of Congress actively promoting a shutdown. “I came into Congress during the last shutdown. Mary Gay Scanlon, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, said of a shutdown. Lawmakers have just two weeks to find a way forward. Meanwhile, McCarthy faces threats for his ouster if he brings a short-term spending bill to the floor that doesn’t acquiesce to demands from his right flank.
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The Senate, which has bipartisan agreement on a series of spending bills passed out of committee, faced a procedural snag on the floor Thursday, and House Republicans are still struggling to find consensus among themselves on a defense spending bill and have turned their focus to trying to pass a short-term funding bill with just GOP votes.
It’s a mistake to shut down the government. Don Bacon, who represents a swing district in Nebraska, said, “If I listen to what is going on, no, but I am going to keep the government open. “What pathway doesn’t take us to a shutdown?”Īsked if he could prevent a shutdown at this point, Republican Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a Democrat from Florida. That’s particularly true if the political dynamics at play between House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, the hardliners in his conference and the US Senate don’t change fast. A chaotic week on Capitol Hill yielded no serious progress as Congress stares down a spending deadline at the end of the month with lawmakers acknowledging a government shutdown is not only possible at this point, but may soon be inevitable.
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