With US House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s latest funding plan in ruins and lawmakers were leaving town for the weekend, there was no endgame in sight on Thursday as some Republicans pushed an agenda that might lead to a federal shutdown.
The White House yesterday was to tell federal agencies to prepare for a shutdown, said an official from the US Office of Management and Budget, who insisted on anonymity to discuss the upcoming instructions.
That is standard seven days out from a federal disruption.
Photo: AFP
McCarthy has tried to agree to spending cuts to keep government open, but a handful of Republicans blocked a defense bill from advancing — the second time this week it was set back.
Even a stopgap bill to keep government funding past the deadline on Saturday next week, called a continuing resolution (CR), is a non-starter for some.
“This is a whole new concept of individuals who just want to burn the whole place down,” McCarthy said after Thursday’s vote. “It doesn’t work.”
Former US president Donald Trump urged the representatives to hold the line against the higher funding levels, linking the situation to criminal indictments he faces.
“This is also the last chance to defund these political prosecutions against me and other Patriots,” Trump wrote on social media. “They failed on the debt limit, but they must not fail now. Use the power of the purse and defend the Country!”
The White House and Democrats, along with some Republicans, warn that a shutdown would be devastating for people who rely on the government for everyday services and would undermine the US’ standing in the world.
“We need the extreme MAGA Republicans to get their act together,” said House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York, referring to Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan.
“End the civil war,” Jeffries said. “Get your act together.”
However, US Representative Matt Gaetz said that House Republicans now have almost no choices left but to spend the time it takes to pass each of the 12 spending bills needed to fund the government, even if it means going into a shutdown.
Gaetz said that he and several others would not vote for a continuing resolution that fails to slash spending.
“I’m giving a eulogy for the CR right now,” Gaetz told reporters at the Capitol. “I represent Florida’s first congressional district, where during the shutdown tens of thousands of people will go without a paycheck, and so I know the impact of a shutdown.”
“So it may get worse before it gets better, and I have little to offer but blood, sweat, toil and tears, but that may be what it takes,” he said.
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