With the US government at risk of closing in 5 days, Shutdown 2023 is already lining up to be a political showdown of epic proportions.
Top News Today :
It’s no secret that each year, the US government must agree on a federal budget. However, each year, Republicans always seem to gum up the process with chaos. Earlier this year, President Biden and Congressional leaders reached a bipartisan budget agreement that would have avoided Shutdown 2023. However, Republicans have since pulled a fast one, reneged on the original agreement, and mucked everything up for everybody.
As things currently stand, the US government will run out of funding on September 30 (Fiscal 2024 begins October 1). Although President Biden and congressional Democrats are in lock-step and prepared to honor the earlier bipartisan agreement to keep the government open, Republicans are pulling from their annual bag of tricks and creating chaos.
The House Freedom Caucus and MAGA wing of the GOP is infighting with Speaker Kevin McCarthy and the old guard of the Republican Party. They’d rather allow the US to be closed for business just to make them feel as if they stuck it to the Democrats, proved a point, and won a moral victory. Sadly, McCarthy’s hands are tied since he made certain concessions with these Republicans in order for him to be named House Speaker. So, he’s pretty powerless and unable to put his foot down and demand that a deal get done.
According to Business Insider, Republicans left Washington lask Friday and went home for the weekend without making any progress toward any type of deal. Now, members on both sides of the aisle are getting antsy, prompting some Republicans to publicly state they’d rather work with Democrats to get a deal done than stick with certain members of their own party who are throwing stubborn temper tantrums.
“Let’s stop chasing our tail with these 5 to 10 members who are making demands that will never become law,” GOP Rep. Don Bacon said on Friday. “Let’s start working across the aisle and get the best deal we can.”
GOP Rep. Mike Lawler of New York told CNN that if Republicans can’t pass a short-term spending bill, he too would be willing to work across the aisle. He then engaged in a public spat with his own party members and called their antics a “clown show.”
House Freedom Caucus members have adamantly opposed working with Democrats on a funding solution, and would rather push forward with demands for deadly spending cuts and impeaching President Biden. They’ve also vowed to oppose any legislation the Democrats support — a move that has left Speaker McCarthy in a tough political spot with a shutdown looming in less than a week.
“If Speaker McCarthy relies on Democrats to pass a continuing resolution, I would call the Capitol moving truck to his office pretty soon because my expectation would be he’d be out of the speaker’s office quite promptly,” Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz threatened on CNN.
For their part, Democrats are intimating that the Republican infighting and refusals to compromise are childish.
“I just go back to when I was growing up. I learned that once you make an agreement, you don’t renege on it. You stick with it,” Rep. Brendan Boyle of Pennsylvania (the top Democrat on the Budget Committee) said Wednesday. “We reached an honorable, fair agreement that passed by an overwhelming number despite all of the critics saying it was impossible. It is time for us to get back to that agreement. It is time for all of us to honor our commitments and make sure that this country does not enforce a government shutdown on the American people.”
“Extreme House Republicans need to stop playing political games with people’s lives,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a briefing Thursday. “A deal is a deal. House Republicans need to do their job, keep the government open, and work with us to deliver — to deliver for the American people.”
If Republican lawmakers do not agree to a deal by Friday, the government will shut down. This means all federal agencies deemed non-essential will immediately halt operations. Federal workers, including roughly 2 million military personnel and more than 2 million civilian workers across the nation will go unpaid. Non-essential White House and congressional staff members will be furloughed. Anyone applying for government services such as clinical trials, firearm permits, and passports will see delays. National parks and federal tourist attractions (tours of The White House, Congress, etc.) will shutter. Additionally, the stock market will almost assuredly tumble under the news that America can’t pay its bills.
The solution to fund the government and avoid Shutdown 2023 will absolutely require bipartisanship, which House Freedom Caucus Republicans refuse to acknowledge. If they continue to insist on their way or no way, America will face severe consequences of a shutdown by week’s end.
OK WASSUP! discusses the Top News Today:
Shutdown 2023: 5 days before US government closes.
CNN: With the government on the brink of a shutdown this week as Congress remains at an impasse on a funding deal, federal departments and agencies have begun the mandatory process of planning to bring nonessential functions to a halt. The Office of Management and Budget reminded senior agency officials Friday to update and review shutdown plans. Every department and agency has its own set of plans and procedures. That guidance includes information on how many employees would get furloughed, which employees are essential and would work without pay, how long it would take to wind down operations in the hours before a shutdown, and which activities would come to a halt. Those plans can vary from shutdown to shutdown. Should Congress fail to pass a short-term spending bill to keep the proverbial lights on, a shutdown could have enormous impacts on all Americans, in areas from air travel to… Read more »