McCarthy has always been a dim-bulb. But he has right royally screwed himself this time!!

Six days from now, we’ll either see a government shutdown putting millions of federal employees on furlough — or an 11th hour bipartisan spending agreement that could trigger an effort to remove Kevin McCarthy as speaker of the House.

For McCarthy, the developing situation is something of a Catch-22.

If McCarthy pursues the hard-right approach favored by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) and a handful of other members — passing GOP-written bills packed with spending cuts and conservative policy riders — it is dead on arrival in the Democratic-controlled Senate. A shutdown is inevitable.

If, instead, McCarthy passes a bipartisan continuing resolution to keep the government open, it likely imperils his speakership by decisively turning the House’s hardline conservatives against him. A motion to vacate is inevitable.

And as we talked about last week, McCarthy has literally painted himself into a corner with his “I sold my soul to devils” deal to become Speaker.

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 clean drinking water.