House Republicans all but guaranteed a government shutdown at midnight on Saturday after conservatives blocked a short-term plan to keep the government funded until October 31.
With less than 48 hours until the deadline to fund federal agencies, the GOP is scrambling to find an agreement that will avoid widespread chaos and disruption across the country.
Twenty-one hardline GOP members of Congress sided with all Democrats to vote no to a party-line plan that would have cut spending by $1.471 trillion and bolstered border security.
It was a brutal defeat for House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who has faced relentless criticism from the right of his party.
Even if the bill had passed, it would not have prevented a shutdown: it would never have been taken up in the Senate, which is working on its own bipartisan measure that McCarthy has rejected.
However it would have marked a starting point between the House and Senate proposals.
Government funding expires Saturday at midnight.
Those who voted against the bill insist the only way to move forward is 12 single-subject spending bills for fiscal year 2024.
Some have suggested the real deadline to get something done is now October 13, the date when service members would miss their first paycheck.
For now, federal workers deemed ‘essential’ are forced to work without pay. Those deemed non-essential are furloughed.
Members of Congress and the president will keep getting paid, though many have said they won’t take a paycheck. Many of their staffers will keep working without pay but will get backpay when a deal is passed.
Others like janitors and cafeteria workers who are employed by third-party contractors will likely be furloughed without backpay.
A frustrated McCarthy earlier had said he was pushing the bill to the floor whether or not it had the votes to pass.
‘Every member will have to go on record of where they stand. Are they willing to secure the border? Or do they side with President Biden on an open border and vote against a measure to keep government open?’ he said.
Meanwhile the Senate is pressing forward with its own version of a continuing resolution that has support from both Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and Republican Leader Mitch McConnell.
The Senate CR has money for the Ukraine and no border provisions and McCarthy has said he will not bring it up in the House as-is.
The speaker celebrated a win in passing three appropriations bills Thursday night – State-Foreign Operations, Homeland Security, and Defense. That brings the total to four of 12 appropriations bills – none of which will pass the Senate.
‘Last night, the House did something none of you sitting here thought we can do.’
‘Need I remind you how much as the Senate passed? Zero,’ he added.
The speaker has framed the CR as the only way to secure the border amid a fresh surge of migrants crossings. He noted there have been 50,000 illegal crossings in the past five days.
‘I can’t understand why someone would side with President Biden and keeping the border open,’ he said. ‘We’ll see when the vote comes. If those individuals vote that way, you should ask them that question.’
Meanwhile, the White House claims 10,000 children would lose access to Head Start programs across the country as the Department of Health and Human Services does not award grants during a shutdown.
The National Institutes of Health would likely furlough most of its staff, putting off new clinical trials and medical treatments.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk
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