The Republican-led US House of Representatives has all but disappeared for the long weekend after abruptly wrapping up its work on Thursday when the embattled speaker, Kevin McCarthy, failed to advance a stopgap government spending bill, as members continued to clash with just days left to avert a federal shutdown.
The White House on Friday planned to begin telling federal agencies to prepare for a shutdown, AP reported, citing a government official.
If Congress does not pass a spending bill before 1 October, the lapse in funding is expected to force hundreds of thousands of federal workers to go without pay and bring a halt to some crucial government services.
McCarthy, who had projected optimism at the start of Thursday, now faces a reality in which his speakership hangs by a thread.
The California Republican was dealt his second humiliating defeat of the week, after a proposal to take up House Republicans’ defense spending bill failed in a vote of 216 to 212, after five hard-right members – Dan Bishop of North Carolina, Andy Biggs of Arizona, Eli Crane of Arizona, Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Matt Rosendale of Montana – joined Democrats in opposing the motion.
The Thursday vote marked the second time this week that the motion had failed, after members of the extreme rightwing House Freedom caucus first blocked the bill on Tuesday.
Given that the defense spending bill is usually one of the least contentious spending measures in the House, the second failed vote spelled major trouble for the spending talks. Leaving the floor on Thursday, McCarthy voiced exasperation with his critics within the Republican conference.
“I don’t understand why anybody votes against bringing the idea and having the debate,” McCarthy told reporters, adding: “This is a whole new concept of individuals that just want to burn the whole place down. That doesn’t work.”
Some House Republicans were planning to prepare four separate spending bills reflecting the deep cuts sought by party’s ultra-right wing, Reuters reported. The strategy is a long shot, with the measures facing all but certain defeat in the Democrat-controlled Senate because they come in well below spending levels cited in a deal with Joe Biden.
Additionally, the White House has said the Democratic president plans to veto two of those bills even if they pass, Reuters reported.
Donald Trump, the clear frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024 despite four criminal indictments, has made a point of interfering from the sidelines, urging Republicans to use government funding as leverage to oppose his prosecution, as two of the criminal cases are federal.
Emphasizing the serious threat posed by a shutdown, the White House implored Republicans to “stop playing political games with people’s lives”. “Extreme House Republicans showed yet again that their chaos is marching us toward a reckless and damaging government shutdown,” the White House press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, said on Thursday.
The White House telling the government to prepare for the possibility of a shutdown is standard practice seven days out from a federal disruption, even one as rare as a government shutdown. As of Friday there was no endgame in sight in the House.
McCarthy has repeatedly tried to appease his hard-right flank by agreeing to the steep spending cuts they are demanding to keep government open. But cheered on by Trump, the conservatives have all but seized control in dramatic fashion.
On Thursday even a stopgap bill – called a continuing resolution or CR – to keep government funding past the 30 September deadline was a non-starter for some on the right flank.
The Democratic House minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries, said House Republicans continue to be held captive by the most extreme element of their conference.
Many US government services would be disrupted and hundreds of thousands of federal workers furloughed without pay if federal funding stops on 1 October. Workers deemed “essential” would remain on the job, but without pay.
Many government functions would be affected. Among those, the 2 million US military personnel would remain at their posts, but roughly half of the Pentagon’s 800,000 civilian employees would be furloughed. However, the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration would continue maintaining nuclear weapons.
Agents at the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Secret Service and other federal law enforcement agencies would remain on the job. Prison staffers likewise would continue to work.
Criminal prosecutions, including the two federal cases against former Trump, would continue. Most civil litigation would be postponed and aid to local police departments and other grants could be delayed.
Border patrol and immigration enforcement agents would continue to work, as would customs officers. The Coast Guard would continue operations.
Most of the Federal Trade Commission’s consumer-protection workers would be furloughed, as would half of its antitrust employees.
Airport security screeners and air-traffic control workers would be required to work and US embassies and consulates would remain open.
It is not clear how the 63 US national parks would be affected. They remained open during the 2018-2019 shutdown, through restrooms and information desks were closed and waste disposal was halted. They were closed during a 2013 shutdown.
Scientific research at government institutions would be disrupted. The Securities and Exchange Commission would furlough roughly 90% of its 4,600 employees.
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