Speaker Kevin McCarthy is running out of options as he races Monday to come up with a plan to keep the federal government from shutting down as even a proposal to include hardline border security provisions wasn't enough to appease the far-right flank in his Republican House majority.
The speaker told his Republican conference that they should be prepared to stay through this weekend to pass a stopgap measure, called a continuing resolution, that would keep government offices open past the Sept. 30 deadline. But many are already bracing for the heavy political fallout of a federal shutdown.
“I’ve told all of Congress you’re not going to go home. We’re going to continue to work through this,” McCarthy said Monday at the Capitol. “Things that are tough sometimes are worth it."
He also suggested that time is still on his side and panned the idea of compromising with Democrats as he tries to pass the annual spending measures on his own, saying there were “a lot of good ideas” still coming from Republicans.
“This isn’t the 30th — we’ve got a long ways to go,” he said.
The speaker on a Sunday night call with House Republicans pitched a Thursday vote on passing a one-month funding bill that was negotiated between the hard-right House Freedom Caucus and a group of pragmatic-minded conservatives known as the Main Street Caucus, according to those with knowledge of the call.
McCarthy called the package a “bottom-up” approach, and it was intended to win support from the conservative wing of the Republican Conference by including a 1% cut to last year's spending levels as well as a slew of Republican proposals for border security and immigration. In order to protect Republican spending priorities for defense, veteran and disaster relief, it cuts other spending by over 8%.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer in a floor speech said, “Last night’s proposal in the house can be boiled down to two words: Slapdash, reckless.”
“Slapdash, because it’s not a serious proposal for avoiding a shutdown, and reckless because if passed would cause immense harm to so many priorities that help the American people,” he said.
With the Senate controlled by Democrats who will not accept any of the conservative options, the best hope McCarthy has at this point is to simply pass a measure to kickstart debate with the other chamber. But even that route is uncertain with time dwindling to strike a deal.
McCarthy planned to hold a vote on a Department of Defense spending bill on Wednesday, then the stopgap funding measure the next day.
“There's quite a few people that are against it right now,” said Rep. Kevin Hern, R-Okla., leader of the Republican Study Committee, the largest conservative faction in the House, adding that he was still considering the proposal and that a lot of work was happening “behind the scenes” to get the votes to pass it.
Leaders of the so-called “five families” — the various conservative factions that make up the House Republican majority – are expected to convene later Monday behind closed doors in the speaker’s office.
It’s crucial that they find an agreed-upon path forward for McCarthy, who is staring down just eight working days in session before funding runs out.
“This framework secures the border and it keeps the government open. Republicans need to focus on those things,” said Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., who is chair of the Mainstreet Caucus and helped craft the proposal.
Time is running short for Congress to act. Though McCarthy still contends he has time to maneuver before the government's fiscal year ends, he has also tried to warn his party that a government shutdown is likely to backfire on Republicans politically.
“I’ve been through shutdowns and I’ve never seen somebody win a shutdown because when you shut down, you give all your power to the administration,” McCarthy said in a Fox News interview on Sunday.
“How are you going to win your arguments to secure the border if the border agents don’t get paid? How are you going to win the arguments to get wokeism out of the Department of Defense? If even our own troops aren’t being paid. You have no strength there.”
But McCarthy is already facing resistance. A handful of Republicans took to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, shortly after the Sunday call to criticize even the package with spending cuts and border measures as woefully insufficient.
One of the Freedom Caucus lawmakers who helped craft the proposal, Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., said in a statement that as he answered phone calls coming into his office Monday, he heard frustration from people who “feel lied to and sold down the river by Washington politicians.”
“What House Republicans are attempting to achieve is straightforward: Much needed border security and real budget cuts," he said.
Many are readying for a government closure next month. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce issued a memo Monday to the business community saying there is a “substantial consensus” that there will be a long shutdown and warning that there is “no clear path for reopening the government.”
“Individuals and businesses rely on the discretionary functions of government on a daily basis,” the Chamber wrote. “From passports and permits to clinical trials and contractors, a well-functioning economy requires a functioning government.”
The Biden administration is also highlighting the potential damage from a funding stoppage. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on CNBC Monday, "We’ve got a good, strong economy and creating a situation that could cause a loss of momentum is something we don’t need.”
McCarthy could potentially turn to House Democrats to pass a stopgap measure if he was willing to strip the conservative policy wins out of a funding bill. But several right-wing members are threatening to try to oust him from the speakership if he does.
Still, Schumer called on McCarthy to take a bipartisan approach to keep the government running.
“Time is short to finish the job,” Schumer said. "If both sides embrace bipartisanship a shutdown will be avoided. If the hard right is given a license to run the show, shutdown is almost inevitable.
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Associated Press writer Fatima Hussein in Washington contributed reporting.
© Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
43 Comments
TaiwanIsNotChina
Seems like Republicans need to be educated on what the government does for them. When those tax refunds stop going out, people get PO'd.
Superlib
I love it when the full disfunction of the GOP takes center stage.
Superlib
Let's just get this out of the way first thing.
What about the left?
2020hindsights
Wow, McCarthy thought the sacrifice of an unpopular impeachment enquiry would buy him avoidance of a shutdown, but the RINO crazies, like Matt Gaetz are unimpressed. They want full anarchy.
This will cost the GOP votes.
Sh1mon M4sada
If you had to chart the vigor in American politics, you'd discover it has overshot the last peak by a long shot. When you have public service officers being used by politicians for party political point scoring, you know if an adult doesn't intervene soon, America will have a civil war instead of a democratic competition of ideas.
dagon
Thank Trump for the deficits! Which even conservatives acknowledge that the corporate welfare tax cuts have lead to deficits and shortfalls and these continuing crises.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/christianweller/2020/01/29/trumps-wasteful-tax-cuts-lead-to-continued-trillion-dollar-deficits-in-expanding-economy/?sh=3d2ad2b166c4
Bob Fosse
“just eight working days in session before funding runs out.”
It must be a disappointment for those who were so gleeful at Kevin getting the gavel, he’s done nothing in 6 months except humiliate himself trying to cling on to it.
Don’t forget it took 9 vote sessions to shoehorn him in. Now instead of working in the interests of the people he’s just trying to appease chip roy.
bass4funk
Not so sure, but unlike Democrats who absolutely could care less about the average American taxpayer you can’t just spend, spend ourselves into oblivion as if we have an inexhaustible supply of money, we are just printing money at this point.
lincolnman
But said nothing when Trump and the Repubs piled on an additional $7.8 TRILLION to the debt from 2016-20....
Biden has only increased the debt by $4.8 trillion - and I don't remember him making a promise to reduce it to zero, like his predecessor did...and failed to keep...
wallace
Wasn't it Trump who closed down the government for the longest period?
2020hindsights
bass4funk
but the RINO crazies, like Matt Gaetz are unimpressed. They want full anarchy.
This will cost the GOP votes.
This has nothing to do with the Dems. The problem is that the RINOs want to hold the threat of a shutdown as hostage for measures that even the GOP house doesn't agree on. They aren't holding the Dems hostage; it's pure infighting.
But that's not what they are arguing about.
bass4funk
Doubt it.
Yes, it does, that is exactly the reason why Pelosi lost the gavel, it’s because and like with most Democrats money doesn’t mean anything to them, it’s not their money and if there isn’t enough, just print more
Ahhh, so the GOP should go with the frivolous spending and watch the rest of the nation slowly turn into replicas of San Francisco…I see
Both, otherwise the Dems wouldn’t need their votes.
But in the end that’s exactly what it’s all about
lincolnman
"Five families" - an apt comparison...just like the Mafia...
But your "Crazy Caucus" could care less - they want to cause chaos, mayhem, and disorder...it just gives them more chances to fulminate and huff - it's all performance art...not governing...
Gaetz has already called him a "lying dog" and a "small, pathetic man".... My, my, I don't recall Nancy or Chuck ever making such crude insults about Kevin...
The Repubs are floundering and making themselves look like fools...instead of ensuring the efficient operation of government by passing 11 spending bills they spent their time chasing "Chinese agents" for fake dirt on Hunter...
It's a clown show - that will ensure a Blue congress in 2024...
bass4funk
Mods, please do your job and get this under control, this as well.
2020hindsights
bass4funk
The Dems don't hold the house. The GOP does. The GOP need to get the votes necessary to stop a shutdown.
BTW Pelosi didn't lose the gavel.
They can do what they want, but they have to agree amongst themselves first, which is what they can't seem to do.
They aren't holding the Dems hostage; it's pure infighting.
The GOP hold the majority. The Dems don't need any votes, the GOP does.
bass4funk
Thank the lord!
They will in the end.
Oh, she’s still secretly House speaker? In Spirit. Lol you are too, too funny.
For now, that will come together in the end.
Wait, the Dems don’t need the GOP…
So the Dems need the GOP or they don’t? Make up your mind.
Superlib
Which side do you think will win? The GOP hardliners or McCarthy?
TaiwanIsNotChina
Maybe the inability of the Republican to understand Reserve Currency status is why he is so eager to surrender abroad and destroy America's credit rating at home.
lincolnman
I'm curious what our MAGA-friends think....
Do you agree with MAGA hero Matt Gaetz when he called McCarthy a "lying dog" and a "small, pathetic man"? Or is Gaetz lying and slandering McCarthy?
Do you agree with Gaetz when he proposed partnering with Dem Eric Swalwell, hated by Repubs for leading the impeachment of Trump, to overthrow McCarthy? Or is Gaetz colluding with the enemy?
2020hindsights
break4funk
The GOP hold the majority. The Dems don't need any votes, the GOP does.
He also suggested that time is still on his side and panned the idea of compromising with Democrats as he tries to pass the annual spending measures on his own, saying there were “a lot of good ideas” still coming from Republicans.
If McCarthy were smart, he would get Dems votes. But he's not. This is the GOP's problem, and they don't look close to resolving it.
PTownsend
All Kevin and his RICO Party have to offer is more performance, no policies for the US American people, performnce aimed at the drones that look for more reasons to hate the US and see it overthrown so their idol can get out of going to jail and increase his personal wealth, it’s little surprise knowing the Kremlin have been such staunch supporters of the US Republican Party. Russia has shown its military is inept and so is resorting to using US American drones loyal to the RICo Party but not the country to further weaken the US.
yipyip
This is not completely accurate.
The Republicans love of Eric Swalwell stems from his having a spy for the Chinese Communist Party work as one of his fundraisers.
Republicans and Democrats alike remember how Swalwell was insisting on the Russia collusion fantasy.
A nice twist that it turns out he was a prime target for the CCP.
bass4funk
Don’t have a clue.
Wait, the Dems don’t need the GOP…
True
You mean, capitulate? That’s the smart move??
So why are the left complaining?
The Democrats already have done that by their outrageous spending and there’s no signs of it stopping, just money, print more. The US currency is already losing its value.
https://www.nationalreview.com/2021/07/for-democrats-money-is-just-a-number/
Superlib
Seems like it would be a good way to keep the GOP hardliners at bay because something has to give. They GOP can't keep doing this forever. The shutdown will cost them, especially GOP House members who are in areas that Biden carried. They aren't assured of their seats like the hardliners.
lincolnman
Hmmmm.....
"House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) attacked Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) Wednesday, saying the Freedom Caucus ally has been “working with” Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) to conspire against him."
"Gaetz has long been an opponent of McCarthy, including refusing to back his Speakership bid in January. He re-upped calls to replace the Speaker last week with a tweet to Swalwell inquiring about Democratic support, which McCarthy claims is, in reality, about an ethics complaint against the Florida congressman."
https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4203223-gaetz-calls-mccarthy-liar-responding-to-accusations-hes-colluding-with-swalwell/#:~:text=Gaetz%20has%20long%20been%20an,complaint%20against%20the%20Florida%20congressman.
2020hindsights
bass4funk
This is the GOP's problem, and they don't look close to resolving it.
Largely, they aren't. If the GOP can't work out how to keep the shutdown from happening, then they will lose votes. However, a government shutdown helps nobody.
bass4funk
Wish the Dems would give up on Spending for once
Hard to quantify.
Not so sure that’s true given how the Dems have and continue to blow through money like a rich kid snorting coke.
If that were not the case we wouldn’t be discussing it now.
Mmm…not so sure about that one.
2020hindsights
bass4funk
Largely, they aren't.
How do you arrive at that conclusion? I think Superlib said it best:
That's why we're discussing it now. To dunk on the GOP and their disfunction.
bass4funk
I disagree.
It wouldn’t be the first time he’s wrong.
Because JT put it up.
https://edition.cnn.com/2023/09/07/opinions/joe-biden-poll-2024-election-zelizer/index.html
Now this is what you call the epitome of dysfunction.
stormcrow
Speaker McCarthy . . . The weak and foolish spear point of a rabid segment of his party.
Bob Fosse
He only got the gig because he capitulated. And he’s been held over a barrel since. He’s good at capitulating if nothing else.
bass4funk
For his party, he did if he wanted the position, the GOP didn’t want another RINO, the last two were the absolute worst.
As he should be.
Yo his party and to be beholden to his constituents, absolutely!
lincolnman
One phrase best sums up where McCarthy and the Repubs are right now...
"The Freedom Caucus Is Outraged at the Freedom Caucus’ Government Funding Bill"....
"Over the weekend, a few Republican members from both the conservative House Freedom Caucus and the moderate Main Street Caucus cut a deal on a short-term government funding bill to avert a shutdown at the end of September. The three co-authors from the Freedom Caucus include its chairman, Pennsylvania Rep. Scott Perry, as well as Florida Rep. Byron Donalds and Texas Rep. Chip Roy."
https://www.yahoo.com/news/freedom-caucus-outraged-freedom-caucus-204304216.html
So you'd think that with these three Freedom Caucus members authoring the bill, the rest of the Freedom Caucus would support it...right?
Wrong...at least a dozen Kook Caucus Repubs are openly mocking and refusing to support their fellow FC members....
MTG - "No!"... Rep Brufke - "This is a gift to Joe Biden".... Rep Luna - "Hard no"....
Is it any wonder McCarthy is tearing his hair out trying to lead this circus...
Repub dysfunction and incompetence on display for all America to see....
EFD
“My Kevin” makes promises he can’t keep to a band of lunatics whose ranks include a child sex-trafficker, several QAnon nut jobs, a few openly supportive members of neo-Nazi and white nationalist groups, and it all goes wrong.
And it all falls apart.
Golly, who could have seen that one coming? By all appearances certainly not “My Kevin.”
bass4funk
Says the person that supports this administration spending our money and money they don’t even have.
Democrats??
Yes, it is, look at the President’s poll numbers
Oh, I’m sure he did see it coming.
EFD
Que the line from Succession: You're not a serious person.
Bob Fosse
Says the person that had no problem with the last administration reaching record deficit numbers and refusing to acknowledge any statistics that show this administration attempting and succeeding in reducing the deficit rather than add to it.
yipyip
Much needed border security and real budget cuts," he said.
Why would Democrats be opposed?
Superlib
No one is opposed to border security. Put your proposal out for a vote and let the chips fall where they may. The issue is with adding things like this to the budget talks as a way to pass legislation through hostage taking. Either agree or we'll shut down the government. That's not democracy.
And the budget was already negotiated with Biden and McCarthy. His own ranks revolted against him. Again, that's what's going on now.
bass4funk
On the contrary
You tell me…
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/sep/15/biden-economy-bidenomics-poll-republicans-democrats-independents
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2023/09/13/biden-is-selling-an-improving-economy-americans-dont-but-it-it-poll-finds/70729119007/
bass4funk
Except for the Dems and Myorkas.
Or you could just complete the wall since the money has already been spent and send back or round up as many illegals as we can, triple the number of border patrol agents, adapt a zero tolerance policy rule for starters…
Which is what the Dems are doing, I mean, it’s not there money so what do they have to lose?
Spending someone else’s money is?
Good question.
Superlib
Great. So put it to a vote. Democracy. If your party has the votes, you win. If you don't, you lose. But let's not pretend the GOP isn't attempting an end around to the democratic process via hostage taking. The hostage is the entire government.
bass4funk
Forced Open borders onto a sovereign nation? Hardly
Sorry, that’s like saying if I beat you in a fist fight I get the keys to your house and cars, especially if I have a physical advantage, now if you can make the fight fair you might win..
The Dems ran with that bone already.
Democrats.