This week, Speaker Kevin McCarthy must decide whether to stay in office or work with Democrats to prevent a government shutdown.
Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., is under danger from Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., and other conservative hardliners if he collaborates with Democrats to pass a temporary, stopgap measure to keep the government open.
But if McCarthy wants to prevent a very disruptive shutdown when funding for the federal government expires at midnight on Saturday, he may have to do just that and bring a continuing resolution, or CR, to the floor in the coming days. In the event of a shutdown, hundreds of thousands of soldiers, border guards, and other federal employees would not receive their paychecks.
One House Republican lawmaker said, “He has a career-altering choice to make.
McCarthy said he wasn’t quite ready to go there yet when asked whether he was willing to work with Democrats to keep the lights on: “I believe we have a majority here, and that we can work together to solve this. Even though it could take a bit longer, this is crucial. We want to ensure that we can put an end to the unnecessary spending that the Democrats have proposed.
After two earlier attempts to move a crucial military funding package were thwarted by conservatives on the floor, McCarthy urgently worked through the lengthy Yom Kippur holiday weekend on a fresh GOP approach with just five days left before a shutdown.
Gaetz and moderate Rep. Marc Molinaro, R-N.Y., first proposed the plan, which would group four separate appropriations bills — funding the departments of defense, homeland security, agriculture, and state-foreign operations — under a single rule, though each bill would be subject to a separate vote on the House floor. McCarthy believes that conservatives would see the four bills as a down payment in exchange for their support of a continuing resolution (CR), which would temporarily keep the government open and give Republicans more time to pass the remainder of their spending bills. The four bills would reduce spending by billions of dollars.
McCarthy would almost probably have to rely on Democrats to support a “clean” CR in order to prevent a shutdown if he can’t muster enough GOP votes to pass either that spending package or a short-term plan to keep the government open.
Shortly put, McCarthy must choose between shutting down the government and keeping it shut or risk losing his speakership, the crowning achievement of a two-decade career in public politics.
During a Monday appearance on MSNBC, Rep. Wiley Nickel, D-N.C., said, “Kevin’s going to have to make that decision for himself.” But it’s clear that if he associates with people like Matt Gaetz, Lauren Boebert, and Marjorie Taylor Greene, he won’t be able to finance the government.
Nevertheless, collaborating with Democrats to fund the government would very probably result in a motion to vacate, forcing a vote on whether to remove McCarthy as speaker.
Rep. Tim Burchett, a conservative Republican from Tennessee, stated on CNN on Sunday that he won’t back a short-term plan and that if McCarthy passes one with the help of Democrats, he will “look strongly at” ousting him.
“Our financial ship is sinking,” he declared. “The drapes are drawn. We have an obligation to do.
The speaker made it clear on Monday that he opposed a shutdown but recognized the political fact that only a small number of conservatives could shut down the government due to the GOP’s precariously tight control. Additionally, they have Donald Trump, a former president, on their side.
“You must continue to operate the government. People who want to shut down the government are simply going to get weaker. Why would they want to quit funding the Coast Guard, border agents, or soldiers? How that makes you stronger is beyond me. McCarthy told reporters, “I don’t get what argument you’re trying to make.
But he continued, “There are always a few people who can put a halt to anything. We were prevented from doing anything on the floor earlier in the year by the same handful.
Despite becoming a key McCarthy supporter this year, Greene criticized the new McCarthy strategy, claiming it contains $300 billion in Ukraine aid that she opposes.
The Georgia Republican, referring to the four funding bills, said in a scathing statement: “The rule is the first stage in advancing the blood money in Congress.” “Supporting the regulation implies more funding for Ukraine. That much is obvious. If you want peace, you shouldn’t support the motion to move the measures forward. That’s why I’m giving Ukraine a free pass and voting against the rules package.
Florida’s Gaetz has been the most vocal opponent of a short-term financing measure, publicly threatening to file a move to resign if McCarthy introduces any CR. And Gaetz has sworn to oppose a CR no matter what, along with a small group of other hard-right Republicans.
Gaetz told reporters last week, “I’m offering a eulogy to the CR right now. “I will never vote for a continuing resolution, and there are enough Republicans who will never vote for one.”
Democrats would have to choose whether to support a vote to remove the speaker or support McCarthy’s Republican supporters and save him if it came to that. Democrats across the political spectrum are being coy about whether they would support a Republican leader who backed Trump after the Capitol attack on January 6 and more recently opened an impeachment investigation on President Joe Biden.
In response to a query about it on CNN, moderate Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., said: “All we’re focused on is keeping the lights on this week.”
Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York declared that Democrats would “cross that bridge when we get to it.”
McCarthy has been a really weak speaker. She continued, “I think he has also made some simply utterly catastrophic decisions for the American people. That is something which the Democratic caucus needs to come to an agreement on and decide how we want to travel as a group as well.
The North Carolina representative for the House, Nickel, also said that Democrats are starting to consider whether to salvage McCarthy’s political career.
Our whip, Katherine Clark, has made it plain that there should be a discussion and that if we do that, compromises would be made, Nickel added. But I believe that was a worthwhile discussion. These discussions need to start, but they haven’t even begun yet.
House Democratic officials have privately expressed reservations about the proposal. Democrats “should not be a cheap date,” according to one, and should only take action to save McCarthy if he is prepared to maintain government funding at the levels they agreed to in this year’s debt ceiling battle, pay for Biden’s requests for money to help Ukraine and deal with disasters, stop his “impeachment bulls—,” and “stop letting the craziest members of his conference set the agenda.”
According to a second aide, if Democrats publicly support preserving McCarthy, it will simply embolden his opponents on the far right. The aide conceded that by supporting McCarthy, Democrats might inadvertently undermine his position within the GOP.
Gaetz criticized the speaker for delaying action on budget legislation until the very last minute in a heated argument with McCarthy ally Maria Bartiromo of Fox News on Sunday.
We had been anticipating September 30 all year. Kevin McCarthy has also been tardy. Gaetz said to the host, “He’s been tinkering like Nero while Rome burns, and the House is bringing up individual appropriations bills right now “because we are making them.”
Gaetz remarked, “They’re doing it with a political gun to their heads. “And America, you are welcome.”