House Republicans and Democrats unexpectedly reached an agreement on Saturday to fund the government and avoid a shutdown that would have caused financial hardship for millions of American households with only hours to spare.
A continuing resolution, sometimes known as a short-term funding bill or CR, was approved by the House on a 335-91 bipartisan vote. The bill will now travel to the Senate, where senators there said they won’t raise any issues with a quick vote.
If President Joe Biden signs the bill into law, the government will remain open for an additional 45 days. Additionally, it will give the House and Senate additional time to complete funding legislation with more detail.
After insisting for days which any short-term funding bill would have to include significant spending cuts and strict border security measures, Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., changed his mind and put a so-called “clean” 45-day CR on the floor with billions in disaster aid yet none of the new Ukraine aid Democrats had pushed for.
McCarthy dared Democrats to reject a clean measure on the floor and cause a government shutdown. Democrats voiced concerns over the paucity of help for Ukraine and vehemently protested that they had not had time to read the 71-page bill while leadership stalled the process by employing procedural tricks and making protracted speeches.
The government is about to shut down. And legislation is thrust upon the American people at the eleventh hour,” Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a Democrat from New York, said in a 52-minute floor speech. We’re also told that we just have five or ten minutes to assess a piece of legislation that is over seventy pages long and that we should just believe our radical MAGA Republican colleagues.
But ultimately, it was a bargain that the vast majority of Democrats could stomach.
In a statement, Annie Kuster, the chair of the New Democrat Coalition and a Democrat from New Hampshire, stated, “Let’s be clear: This isn’t a perfect deal or a long-term solution, but New Dems are committed to avoiding a shutdown & protecting our economy.” Despite our support for this proposal to put an end to the current situation, we will keep pressing for more money to aid Ukraine in its battle for democracy and will do everything in our power to make sure they get the support they need to prevail in this conflict.
What will it mean for McCarthy’s political future is now a crucial topic brought up by his courageous action.
Rep. Matt Gaetz, a Republican from Florida who is the speaker’s main adversary, has been threatening to remove McCarthy from office if he introduces a CR, particularly one that needs Democratic support to pass. McCarthy’s action has focused attention on Gaetz, who is now being watched closely to see if he will make good on his threat.
Gaetz, a prominent supporter of former President Donald Trump and a Republican bomb-thrower had declared he would submit a motion to vacate or vote to remove McCarthy. Gaetz attempted to address the chair after the CR vote had been approved, but the House gaveled and then adjourned before he could.
In a conference held behind closed doors on Saturday, Republican leaders admitted they lacked the necessary backing to enact a last-minute budget agreement to avoid a government shutdown that would cause financial hardship for millions of American families.
Without action from Congress, the government will shut down at 12:01 a.m. on Sunday, stopping payments to the nation’s 4 million service members and other federal employees, closing federal parks and monuments, and interfering with food and education programs to low-income children.
After conservative hard-liners in the House failed to pass a 30-day stopgap bill known as a continuing resolution (CR) on Friday, several discouraged members declared that a shutdown is now all but likely.
Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., declared Friday night that he is not giving up and that he will explore a new method to buy Republicans more time to approve individual appropriations measures.
However, Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., informed lawmakers that there were insufficient GOP votes to pass any CR that had been crafted by Republicans as House Republicans regrouped on Saturday morning, according to a source in the conference.
The House would vote on a 45-day CR with disaster aid but no assistance for Ukraine as Senate negotiators had agreed upon, Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., declared as he left the room. The source added that they will also vote on three proposals to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration, the National Flood Insurance Program, and pay military salaries during a government shutdown.
The government must be kept open, according to several House Republicans.
There isn’t any other choice. people idly contemplating the possibility that a government shutdown will somehow benefit the populace? As he departed the meeting on Saturday, Rep. Marc Molinaro, R-N.Y., a moderate freshman who will have a difficult time winning re-election in 2018. “I’d ask them to speak with the elderly who were neglected or the children like mine who were denied services for disabilities.
“Leaving people behind is neither a success formula nor a message,”
However, even if the House is able to pass a bill that the Senate would support, a single senator’s delay in the Senate may cause a shutdown of the government.
McCarthy, a California Republican, doesn’t seem to be able to persuade his party to support a CR, and it’s unclear whether Democrats would approve one without the Ukraine funding. After a nearly three-hour, behind-closed-doors “family meeting” in the Capitol’s basement, it was apparent that there was little agreement among the 221 House Republicans.
Rep. Steve Womack, R-Ark., a prominent appropriator who is close to McCarthy, remarked on Friday night that “we’re all over the map.” Some folks want to undo what we just accomplished. Some people just want seven days, while others want 14 days. They will prepare a strategy and then inform us of it, after which we will all gather here and, hopefully, vote on a different strategy the next day.
Womack didn’t seem quite as optimistic as the speaker: “I think it’s safe to say… The lights are going out at midnight.
The Democratic-controlled Senate is continuing to advance its own bipartisan plan to avert a shutdown while the Republican-led House is in disarray: a six-week CR that contains around $6 billion in economic and military help for Ukraine and another $6 billion for domestic disaster relief.
Earlier this week, a bipartisan 76-22 vote allowed the Senate bill to pass a procedural barrier. Although it’s unclear that senators would finish working on the CR by the shutdown deadline, majority leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York, indicated the Senate would have another procedural vote on the legislation on Saturday.
Schumer pushed McCarthy to support the Senate’s plan in a tweet, writing, “If you don’t want our troops to go without pay. if you don’t want to endanger initiatives related to public health. if you oppose reductions in the nutrition provided to mothers, children, and babies. To prevent a shutdown, only bipartisanship will do.
In order to avoid a shutdown, President Joe Biden & the White House have approved the Senate measure and urged House Republicans to do the same.
Due to threats to his speakership, McCarthy has been hesitant to schedule a vote on a clean funding package, which would have the support of the majority of House Democrats. Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., has repeatedly pledged to remove McCarthy if he introduces a CR that needs Democratic support to pass.
McCarthy came under fire from Biden in a recent interview for making a deal with and appeasing conservative hard-liners in order to maintain his position of authority.
In an interview with ProPublica that will be released on Sunday, Biden stated, “The Speaker has made a terrible bargain.” He’s prepared to act in ways that, in my opinion, are inconsistent with constitutional procedures in order to maintain the speakership, No. 1.
Biden continued, “No. 2, I believe it shows that there is a group of MAGA Republicans who actually want to reform the way the system operates. And it is my biggest concern.
In a private meeting earlier on Saturday, Republican leaders had acknowledged that they lacked the necessary backing to enact a last-minute financing agreement to avert a shutdown that would cause financial hardship for millions of American families. a stopping
A shutdown, which would affect the nation’s 4 million service members and other federal employees by stopping their paychecks, closing down federal parks and monuments, and disrupting food and education programs for low-income children, was widely believed to be inevitable by devastated politicians.
A few hours later, McCarthy declared that he would bring the 45-day CR to the floor in the hopes of garnering bipartisan support and challenging Gaetz and other conservative critics to try to have him removed for “being the adult in the room.”