Sept. 2023 Govt. Shutdown Thread

[Webster]

(The Guardian) US government shutdown lurches closer amid GOP infighting in the House
We’re 12 days away from the US government shutting down when its funding runs out on 1 October, but in the House of Representatives, Republicans are consumed with infighting and an agreement’s prospects are highly uncertain. The split is between House speaker Kevin McCarthy and a group of the most conservative lawmakers – many of whom prevented him from becoming the chamber’s leader for days at the start of the year, and remain bitter over a deal he negotiated with Joe Biden in May to raise the debt ceiling while cutting some spending. McCarthy is trying to get House Republicans to vote on a bill that will fund the government for a few weeks while cutting some spending and further enforcing security at US borders, but the rightwing lawmakers refuse to support it. Nonetheless, the House is expected to today take an early vote on the measure – and if it fails, the odds of a shutdown will creep ever higher.

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Funding dispute poses threat to McCarthy's speakership
There’s no path forward yet to pass a short-term funding measure to keep the US government open beyond 1 October, and if House speaker Kevin McCarthy can’t unite his unruly Republican caucus, some have wondered if he may seek an agreement with the Democratic minority.

The GOP controls the House by only four votes, and lawmakers who want to avoid the economically damage spectacle of the federal government running out of money could unite with Democrats on what would probably be a straightforward short-term funding measure that does not address any other legislative priorities. But if he does that, Punchbowl News reports far-right House Republicans may attempt to oust him from the speaker’s post, taking advantage of an agreement McCarthy made at the start of the year.

“The thing that would force the motion to vacate is if Kevin has to rely on Democrat votes to pass a” continuing resolution, as the funding measure is known, Republican Ken Buck told Punchbowl. But the lawmaker also admitted that he’s not sure whether the GOP can reach an agreement on funding the government. -- “I don’t see how we can pass the bill [a CR] without Democrat votes,” Buck said.

 

[Webster]

(The Guardian) House Republicans again fail to advance defense spending bill in ominous sign for stopping government shutdown
A vote in the Republican-led House to advance an annual defense department funding bill failed for the second time this week, after rightwing lawmakers joined with Democrats to oppose its passage:


It’s an ominous sign for the separate effort to fund the government beyond 30 September, since both rightwing Republicans and Democrats oppose a motion to prevent a shutdown proposed by House speaker Kevin McCarthy.

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At a press conference, the Democratic House minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries, blamed a revolt by “extreme Maga Republicans” for paralyzing the chamber and threatening a government shutdown. “We need the extreme Maga Republicans to get their act together in the civil war that’s happening on the Republican side of the aisle,” Jeffries said.

He continued: House Republicans continue to be in the midst of a civil war. It’s a civil war that is hurting the ability of the Congress to do the business of the American people and to solve problems on behalf of everyday Americans. And what’s happening is that House Republicans continue to be held captive by the most extreme elements of their conference, and it’s hurting the American people. And this is a serious matter. We are less than eight days away from the government shutting down.

 

[Webster]

(The Guardian) The House Republican speaker, Kevin McCarthy, was dealt his second humiliating defeat of the week on Thursday, when his conference again failed to approve a procedural motion as members continued to clash over government spending levels with just days left to avert a federal shutdown.

A proposal to take up House Republicans’ defense spending bill failed in a vote of 216 to 212, with five hard-right members joining Democrats in opposing the motion. The vote marked the second time this week that the motion had failed, after members of the House Freedom Caucus first blocked the bill on Tuesday.

The defeat was interpreted as a dismal sign for House Republicans’ prospects of approving a separate stopgap spending bill before government funding runs out at the end of the month.

McCarthy had projected optimism heading into the Thursday vote, saying he and his allies had made substantial progress in their talks with the holdout Republicans on Wednesday. But five members of the House Freedom Caucus – Dan Bishop of North Carolina, Andy Biggs of Arizona, Eli Crane of Arizona, Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Matt Rosendale of Montana – still opposed the procedural motion on Thursday.

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Given that the defense spending bill is usually one of the least contentious spending measures in the House, the second failed vote spelled major trouble for the spending talks.

If no agreement is reached on a series of funding bills, the federal government will shutter on 30 September. In the event of a shutdown, starting 1 October, hundreds of thousands of federal workers would likely go without pay and key healthcare and other public programs would be affected.

There are several unknowns still hanging over House speaker Kevin McCarthy’s effort, which, as the Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell, has pointed out, could be politically damaging to the party.

The first is whether hard-right members of the House Freedom Caucus – who have capitalized on McCarthy’s narrow majority – will eventually abandon their blockade as the shutdown deadline approaches.

The second is if whatever bill Republicans do pass will include the Ukraine aid and disaster relief funding the Democratic-led Senate is demanding. Without Senate agreement, any measure cannot be enacted.

 

[Webster]

(The Guardian) Chaos on Capitol Hill as White House warns to prepare for shutdown
The House wrapped up its work on Thursday after failing to advance a stopgap government spending bill, as members continued to clash with just days left to avert a federal shutdown. Kevin McCarthy, who had projected optimism at the start of the day, now faces a reality where his speakership hangs by a thread.

The White House will tell federal agencies on Friday to prepare for a shutdown, AP reported, citing a government official. If the House and the Senate do not pass a spending bill before 1 October, the lapse in funding will likely force hundreds of thousands of federal workers to go without pay and bring a halt to crucial government services.

McCarthy was dealt his second humiliating defeat of the week, after a proposal to take up House Republicans’ defense spending bill failed in a vote of 216 to 212, after five hard-right members – Dan Bishop of North Carolina, Andy Biggs of Arizona, Eli Crane of Arizona, Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Matt Rosendale of Montana – joined Democrats in opposing the motion. The Thursday vote marked the second time this week that the motion had failed, after members of the House Freedom caucus first blocked the bill on Tuesday.

Given that the defense spending bill is usually one of the least contentious spending measures in the House, the second failed vote spelled major trouble for the spending talks. Leaving the floor on Thursday, McCarthy voiced exasperation with his critics within the Republican conference.

“I don’t understand why anybody votes against bringing the idea and having the debate,” McCarthy told reporters. -- This is a whole new concept of individuals that just want to burn the whole place down. That doesn’t work.

Donald Trump, the clear frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination, has complicated matters from the sidelines, urging Republicans to use government funding as leverage for his own personal gains. Emphasizing the serious threat posed by a shutdown, the White House implored Republicans to “stop playing political games with people’s lives”. “Extreme House Republicans showed yet again that their chaos is marching us toward a reckless and damaging government shutdown,” the White House press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, said Thursday.

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There are several unknowns still hanging over House speaker Kevin McCarthy’s effort, which, as the Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell, has pointed out, could be politically damaging to the party.

The first is whether hard-right members of the House Freedom caucus – who have capitalized on McCarthy’s narrow majority – will eventually abandon their blockade as the shutdown deadline approaches.

The second is if whatever bill Republicans do pass will include the Ukraine aid and disaster relief funding the Democratic-led Senate is demanding. Without Senate agreement, any measure cannot be enacted

 

[Webster]

(The Guardian) House and Senate plan late afternoon votes to head off shutdown
The House and Senate will in a few hours hold votes that will be crucial to the broader effort to stop the government from shutting down at the end of the week.

The federal fiscal year ends on 30 September, after which many federal agencies will have exhausted their funding and have to curtail services or shut down entirely until Congress reauthorizes their spending. But lawmakers have failed to pass bills authorizing the government’s spending into October due to a range of disagreements between them, with the most pronounced split being between House Republicans who back speaker Kevin McCarthy and a small group of rightwing insurgents who have blocked the chamber from considering a measure to fund the government for a short period beyond the end of the month.

At 5.30pm, the Democratic-dominated Senate will vote on a bill that extends funding for a short period of time, but lacks any new money for Ukraine or disaster relief that Joe Biden’s allies have requested. Those exclusions are seen as a bid to win support in the Republican-led House.

The House is meanwhile taking procedural votes on four long-term spending bills. If the votes succeed, it could be a sign that McCarthy has won over some of his detractors – but that alone won’t be enough to keep the government open.

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The Senate’s Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer, says he expects a short-term government funding measure to pass his chamber with bipartisan support, Politico reports:



The question is: what reception will it get in the House? If speaker Kevin McCarthy puts the bill up for a vote, it may attract enough Democratic votes to offset any defections from rightwing Republicans. But those insurgents have made clear that any collaboration between McCarthy and Democrats will result in them holding a vote to remove him as speaker.

 

[Webster]

(The Guardian) White House threatens to veto short-term government funding measure backed by House Republicans
The White House is threatening to veto a bill backed by House Republicans that would extend federal government funding through October and make deep cuts to departments’ budgets while boosting border security.

The House GOP has proposed the Spending Reduction and Border Security Act as their solution to the looming government shutdown, which will begin on Sunday unless Congress approves more funding. While votes on the act are expected in the House later today, the White House Office of Management and Budget has said Joe Biden will veto the legislation if it comes to his desk.

Here’s more from their statement: The Administration strongly opposes House passage of H.R. 5525, making continuing appropriations for fiscal year 2024, and for other purposes. Hours before a Government shutdown, House Republicans are playing partisan games instead of working in a bipartisan manner to fund the Government and address emergency needs.
In a blatant violation of the funding agreement the Speaker and the President reached just a few months ago, the bill endangers the vital programs Americans rely on by making reckless cuts to programs, regardless of the consequences for critical services from education to food safety to law enforcement to housing to public health. It also fails to address key emergency funding needs where lives are at stake, ignoring the Administration’s request for resources to combat the fentanyl crisis and effectively manage the border, support the people of Ukraine as they defend their homeland from Russia’s illegal war, and stand with communities across America as they recover from natural disasters. In addition, H.R. 5525 fails to provide the resources needed to avoid severe disruptions to Government services—risking unnecessary delays for travelers by underfunding the Federal Aviation Administration; loss of access to nutritious food for pregnant and postpartum women and children by underfunding the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children; and deterioration in service for the over 71 million Americans who rely on the income support Social Security programs provide. … If the President were presented with H.R. 5525, he would veto it.

That said, it’s unclear if the measure has enough Republican support to pass the House, where Democrats are unlikely to vote for it. And even if it does pass, the Democratic-led Senate is unlikely to consider it.

 

[Webster]

(The Guardian) House votes on stopgap bill
The House has started voting on a GOP-crafted short-term spending bill that would fund the government for 30 days.

With such a narrow House majority, Speaker Kevin McCarthy can only afford to lose a handful of votes within his conference to pass the continuing resolution with only Republican support.

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House rejects stopgap bill as shutdown looms
The House rejected a short-term spending bill aimed at averting a government shutdown, dealing a blow to Speaker Kevin McCarthy and likely cementing the chances of a shutdown less than 48 hours away.

The bill, known as a continuing resolution, failed by a vote of 198 in favor to 232 opposed.

Twenty one Republicans joined Democrats in voting against the bill. Hard-right members of McCarthy’s conference refused to support the bill despite its steep spending cuts of nearly 30% to many agencies and severe border security provisions, calling it insufficient.

McCarthy is planning to meet with the GOP conference on Friday afternoon to discuss next steps. Ahead of the vote, he all but dared his hard-right colleagues to oppose the package. “Every member will have to go on record where they stand,” he said.

Despite McCarthy’s concessions, members of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus remained adamant on Friday that they would not support a continuing resolution.

 

[Webster]

(Associated Press) WASHINGTON (AP) — The threat of a federal government shutdown was suddenly easing Saturday after the House quickly approved a temporary funding bill to keep agencies open, once Speaker Kevin McCarthy dropped demands for steep spending cuts and relied on Democratic votes for passage.

The rushed package would leave behind aid to Ukraine, a White House priority opposed by a growing number of GOP lawmakers, but increase federal disaster assistance by $16 billion, meeting President Joe Biden’s full request. The bill would fund government until Nov. 17.

It goes next to the Senate, which was meeting late in the evening, hours to go before the midnight deadline to fund the government. “We’re going to do our job,” McCarthy said before the House vote. “We’re going to be adults in the room. And we’re going to keep government open.”

It’s been a head-spinning turn of events in Congress after days of House chaos pushed the government to the brink of a disruptive federal shutdown.

With no deal in place before Sunday, federal workers would face furloughs, more than 2 million active-duty and reserve military troops would work without pay and programs and services that Americans rely on from coast to coast would begin to face shutdown disruptions.

The House measure would fund government at current 2023 levels, until Nov. 17, setting up another potential crisis if they fail to more fully fund government by then. The package was approved by the House 335-91, with most Republicans and almost all Democrats supporting.

But the loss of Ukraine aid was devastating for lawmakers of both parties vowing to support President Volodymyr Zelenskyy after his recent Washington visit. The Senate bill included $6 billion for Ukraine, and both chambers came to a standstill Saturday as lawmakers assessed their options.

 

[Webster]

(The Guardian) House Republicans face mounting pressure to elect new speaker
Republican House representatives face mounting pressure to rally around a House speaker candidate after the ousting of former speaker Kevin McCarthy.

Only two candidates have tossed their hat in the ring for the role: House majority leader Steve Scalise, a representative of Louisiana, and Ohio representative Jim Jordan, who is the judiciary chairman.

Both candidates are expected to hold a candidate forum on Tuesday before Wednesday’s internal election, CNN reports.

The search for House speaker comes amid war between Israel and Hamas. Over 1,000 Israeli and Palestinian people have died as fighting escalates. More than 120,000 Palestinians have also been displaced in Gaza due to the fighting.

House foreign affairs committee chairman Michael McCaul stressed the need for a speedy speaker election over the weekend. He told CNN: “We have to get a speaker elected this week so we can get things on the floor like replenishing the Iron Dome, get a resolution that ranking member Meeks and I have been working on, bipartisan resolution condemning Hamas for what they have done to Israel.”

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Republicans who advocated for McCarthy’s removal as House speaker say that they will make electing a new speaker a priority.

Colorado representative Ken Buck told ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday that Republicans are working towards electing a new leader.

“We’ll agree on a candidate by the end of the week, or we’ll agree on a candidate over the weekend. I think we lock the doors, and we have very limited bathroom breaks and food breaks and make sure we get the job done,” Buck said. “We’re going to be able to have a family discussion. When we leave that family discussion, I believe we’re going to be united,” Buck added.

Meanwhile, McCarthy has not ruled out a possible return to being House speaker.

During an interview with radio host Hugh Hewitt, McCarthy said that he would return if the Caucus asks him to do so. McCarthy added that he would not be surprised if he was asked back if gridlock in the House continues.

 

[Mendalla]

Lordy lordy lordy. The US system seems to be broken in so many ways right now. We aren't perfect, but we elected a Speaker with no problem last week (the old one resigned for being an idiot).

Of course, the Speaker of the House in the US is a bit of a funny position to start with when I Iook at it from the standpoint of someone living in a parliamentary democracy. In parliamentary terms, it seems to combine elements of Prime Minister as well as Speaker. In our system, the Speaker is basically the meeting chair and only has authority to making rulings on house rules and the flow of debate, discussion, and voting. He is also in charge of the bureaucracy that runs Parliament (pages, security, etc.). He doesn't even vote himself unless there's a tie, let alone get involved in drafting legislation. The US Speaker, by contrast, seems to also function as the majority leader in the House, which would be the role of the PM or (in his absence) the Government House Leader in Canada.

 

[Webster]

(The Guardian) Gaetz, who let effort against McCarthy's, endorses Jordan
Matt Gaetz, Florida’s Republican representative who led the motion to oust former House speaker Kevin McCarthy, appears to have thrown his support behind Jim Jordan.

In response an interview that former House speaker Paul Ryan gave in which he criticized Gaetz, Gaetz replied: “Paul Ryan is a FAILED House Speaker who grew our deficit and debt. No wonder he has great empathy for Kevin McCarthy. It’s Jim Jordan Time!”

Gaetz is a hard-line Republican who moved to oust McCarthy after McCarthy worked alongside Democrats last month to pass a bipartisan bill that avoided a federal government shutdown at the eleventh hour. In a separate tweet, Gaetz vowed to “get the most conservative Speaker of the House with broad trust across the conference.”

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Democratic House leader calls on GOP to 'get their act together'
House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries has called on Republicans to “get their act together and elect a speaker.”

Speaking to PBS in a new interview, the New York Democrat also called on “traditional Republicans to break with the extremists…and partner with Democrats on a bipartisan path forward.” -- “We are ready, willing and able to do so. I know there are traditional Republicans who are good women and men who want to see government function but they are unable to do it within the ranks of their own conference which is dominated by the extremist wing,” he added.

 

[Webster]

(The Guardian) Scalise to battle for votes to become House Speaker, as GOP hardliners hold out
The Louisiana congressman and House majority leader Steve Scalise has a fierce battle on his hands among warring House Republicans as he tries to scramble enough support from his own party to be elected speaker.

House Republicans voted behind closed doors on Wednesday and chose rightwinger Scalise over his more hardline rival Jim Jordan of Ohio to be nominated for the speakership. But the vote was pretty close, 113 for Scalise v 99 for Jordan, despite Jordan then endorsing Scalise. It’s unclear this morning whether the nominee can win enough support to get through the definitive vote of the whole House.

A small but decisive number of hardline holdouts within the Republican conference are currently blocking Steve Scalise’s passage to the top job.

With Republicans’ razor-thin majority over Democrats in the House, Scalise can only afford four defections within the GOP conference and still win the speakership, assuming all 433 current House members participate in the vote. As of Wednesday evening, at least 11 House Republicans had signaled they would not support Scalise on the floor, with several more still undecided.

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Republican Steve Scalise is seen as a fighter, but becoming House speaker might require a brawl.

That’s the fascinating headline from The Associated Press this morning. Here’s some of their report, lightly edited for structure and length:

A narrow majority of House Republicans nominated Scalise as their next House speaker on Wednesday, following the unprecedented ousting of the former speaker, California Representative Kevin McCarthy.

Scalise, 58, and recently diagnosed with blood cancer, spent the rest of the day holed up in the stately Speaker’s office at the Capitol, vigorously working to secure the support he will need from his detractors to lead the divided Republican majority ahead of a full House vote to take the gavel. -- As we’ve all witnessed, he is a fighter. He has proven against all odds he can get the job done and come back from adversity,” said Republican congressman Andy Barr of Kentucky.

Scalise was seriously injured in 2017 when a gunman opened fire on Republican politicians practicing for a charity baseball game near Washington, one of four wounded in the attack. As he was being flown to hospital, he feared he could die.

Scalise was first elected to Congress in 2008, after more than a decade in the state legislature, and swiftly rose through the ranks in Washington.

Once Republicans took majority control in the 2010 election “tea party” wave of hardline lawmakers to Congress, Scalise soon became part of the House leadership team alongside McCarthy and others under the-speaker John Boehner.

An early rivalry developed between Scalise and McCarthy that punctuated their rise, and continues to this day.

The speaker’s job can be brutal and thankless, with busy travel across the country raising campaign cash and recruiting candidates for elections.

Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene said she would continue supporting Jim Jordan (who was defeated for the nomination) because she wants to see Scalise “defeat cancer more than sacrifice his health” in a demanding job.

Meanwhile, some Republicans are bothered that Scalise addressed a white supremacist group in 2002 founded by former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke. Scalise apologized in 2014.

He has an uphill battle to get to the 217 votes he’ll need on the House floor to secure the speaker’s gavel for himself.

 

[Webster]

(The Guardian) Biden administration warns government shutdown could disrupt air travel
The US secretary of transportation, Pete Buttigieg, warned that a government shutdown could disrupt the nation’s air travel system as he spoke to reporters just days before the deadline.

Even a short shutdown would jeopardize the work and the hiring and training of potentially thousands of air traffic controllers and other key department employees, he said in a news conference earlier today.

House Republicans who are “comfortable” with a government shutdown should “explain themselves directly to all of the nonpartisan civil servants who make sure that planes land safely, who inspect trucks and railroads and pipelines to prevent disasters, who will have to go without pay”, he said. -- There is no good time for a government shutdown, but this is a particularly bad time for a government shutdown, especially when it comes to transportation.

The consequences of a shutdown would be “disruptive and dangerous”, he added.

 

[Webster]

(Daily Signal) The United States House of Representatives has voted in Congressman Mike Johnson of Louisiana as speaker. “It is the honor of a lifetime to have been elected the 56th Speaker of the House,” Johnson said Wednesday. “Thank you to my colleagues, friends, staff, and family for the unmatched support throughout this process.”

“It has been an arduous few weeks, and a reminder that the House is as complicated and diverse as the people we represent,” he added. “The urgency of this moment demands bold, decisive action to restore trust, advance our legislative priorities, and demonstrate good governance. Our House Republican Conference is united, and eager to work.”

Johnson promised to ensure that the House “delivers results and inspires change for the American people.” “As Speaker, I will ensure the House delivers results and inspires change for the American people,” he said. “We will restore trust in this body. We will advance a comprehensive conservative policy agenda, combat the harmful policies of the Biden administration, and support our allies abroad. And we will restore sanity to a government desperately in need of it. Let’s get back to work.”

Johnson, a Republican, was chosen during a closed-door meeting of Republicans on Tuesday evening, and the House voted on his speakership Wednesday afternoon. Republicans unanimously voted for Johnson in a strong show of support after weeks of voting. Johnson won 220 votes, while House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries earned 209 votes from Democrats.

News of his speakership was widely praised by his Republican colleagues, such as Lauren Boebert of Colorado. “I can tell you, this nation is going to absolutely love Mike Johnson,” she said on Wednesday. “He is a true American patriot who has united our party and is going to help us Save America!”

“Despite the unhinged reactions from the swamp and their allies in the corporate media, House Republicans have proven once again what leadership looks like,” Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts said following the vote. (The Daily Signal is the news outlet of The Heritage Foundation)

“Congratulations, Mr. Speaker,” he added. “This is a historic win for the conservative movement, and more importantly, a win for the American people. Heritage is ready to fight alongside you.”

Parental rights activist Asra Nomani praised Johnson for his work highlighting the voices of parents fighting for transparency in schools. “I was a mama bear on Capitol Hill and @RepMikeJohnson had my back — and the backs of parents everywhere who speak of truth to power,” she said. “He yielded his time to me, so I could stop the shaming of parents. Congratulations to you, Rep. Johnson for being a leader for ALL Americans.”

House Majority Whip Tom Emmer of Minnesota had won the Republican speaker nomination Tuesday morning, but around 26 House Republicans voted against him during the closed-door roll call vote, and Emmer dropped out of the speaker’s race on Tuesday after former President Donald Trump warned Republicans not to support him, saying he is “totally out-of-touch with Republican voters.”

Republicans also previously underwent three rounds of voting on Jim Jordan of Ohio for speaker. Jordan lost all three rounds, and on Friday afternoon, House Republicans voted to remove him as the nominee.

Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy had won the speaker position in January after 15 rounds of voting. The House ousted him from his leadership position on Oct. 3. Majority Leader Steve Scalise had won the Republican conference vote for the speaker nomination over Jordan in early October, but he dropped out after a flurry of Republicans said they would not vote for him.