Title: Government Shutdown Looms as House and Senate Clash on Funding
Subtitle: House Speaker Kevin McCarthy remains noncommittal on a stopgap measure
Date: September 14, 2023
With just five days remaining, the possibility of a government shutdown is becoming increasingly likely as the House and Senate clash over a bipartisan stopgap funding measure. While the Senate is working towards a compromise, the House faces resistance from a group of conservative lawmakers who oppose a short-term funding extension.
As the clock continues to tick, lawmakers have yet to agree on a plan to avert a shutdown, creating a sense of inevitability. The Senate has not released the legislative text for a stopgap bill, although it could be introduced as early as Tuesday. However, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has not committed to bringing the bipartisan Senate-passed measure to the floor for a vote this week.
McCarthy repeatedly avoided answering questions about the bill, instead referring to it as a hypothetical situation. While the Senate aims to propose a 45-day stopgap measure, it may not include the White House’s requested $24 billion funding for Ukraine due to time constraints. GOP Senator Rand Paul has threatened to slow down the bill’s passage if Ukraine funding is included.
Meanwhile, lacking the necessary Republican votes, McCarthy is focusing on advancing a series of spending bills early in the week. These bills, including funding for the departments of Defense and Homeland Security, will not prevent a shutdown. However, McCarthy hopes that progress on these measures might sway some conservatives to support a Republican stopgap bill.
However, deep divisions within the House Republican conference make it uncertain whether those bills can advance. McCarthy is expected to face another test of his leadership on Tuesday with a procedural vote on a rule to advance the spending measures. Last week, hardliners within the party sabotaged a similar vote, causing embarrassment for House GOP leaders.
In response to the hardliners’ resistance, McCarthy criticized their efforts as counterproductive and emphasized the importance of securing the border. If the House is successful in passing the planned series of spending bills, McCarthy pledges to put a stopgap measure on the floor that includes provisions for border security.
Despite the ongoing disagreements, McCarthy maintains that a government shutdown is the worst possible option. He warns his conference about the negative consequences of such a strategy and expresses his belief that shutdowns do not help resolve issues.
In a bid to prevent a shutdown, the Senate plans to take an initial procedural vote on Tuesday evening for the House-passed Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization bill. This bill could serve as a legislative vehicle for the Senate’s version of a stopgap bill. As the FAA’s authority to operate expires at the end of September, lawmakers face another looming deadline to act.
A government shutdown would have significant nationwide impacts. Many government operations would grind to a halt, although some essential services would continue, such as border protection, federal law enforcement, and air traffic control. The White House warns of the damaging impacts a shutdown would have on national security, including delays in payment for 1.3 million active-duty military members and furloughs of civilian Defense Department employees.
As the situation unfolds, additional information and updates will be provided.
(Note: This news article is purely fictional and created as an exercise.)