government shutdown

US Government Avoids Shutdown, Matt Gaetz Plans To Oust Speaker Kevin McCarthy

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The US government avoided a shutdown with a late-night spending bill passed just before the midnight deadline. The Senate passed the bill 88-9, with amendments added to include $16 billion in emergency disaster assistance and FAA funding requested by the White House. However, the passed bill did not include any additional aid to Ukraine, despite that being a major sticking point for the Democrats during debates on Saturday.

For weeks, fears of a shutdown had mounted as Speaker Kevin McCarthy tried to engineer a spending bill that could pass without the support of the Democrats. However, the ever-problematic right-wing caucus of Republicans once again refused to work with McCarthy. In the end, the vote passed the house 209-126, with more Democrats than Republicans backing the final bill.

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Matt Gaetz Vows To Oust Kevin McCarthy

However, McCarthy’s eleventh-hour move to compromise with the Democrats has left him vulnerable. Florida Representative Matt Gaetz announced his intention this week to introduce a motion to vacate, which would trigger a vote of no confidence against McCarthy. McCarthy agreed to a resolution during the historic Speaker of the House elections earlier this week that a vote of no confidence could be triggered by just a single member of the House. “You know what, if somebody wants to remove because I want to be the adult in the room, go ahead and try,” McCarthy said of Gaetz’s statement. Gaetz did not indicate when this week he would be submitting the motion.

It’s unlikely that Gaetz and his far-right caucus have the numbers to take down McCarthy. This is especially because the Democrats are unlikely to back Gaetz’s ploy. However, it’s yet another hold-up for a Congress that has been stagnant since the midterms in which the Republicans flipped the house. Last week, the Republicans began official impeachment hearings against President Biden. However, they were mostly an embarrassment for the Republicans, especially when their own star witness said that Biden had not committed an impeachable offense.

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Bipartisan Showdown: How Congress Defied the Deadline to Keep the Nation Running

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Government shutdown narrowly avoided: What does it mean for you?

In a dramatic turn of events on Capitol Hill, Congress managed to strike a deal, narrowly avoiding a government shutdown that would have sent shockwaves through the nation. On Saturday evening, the Senate took a resounding step by passing a crucial measure, temporarily securing government funding until November 17th. The House had earlier given its approval, surpassing the essential two-thirds majority with 335 votes—made up of 209 Democrats and 126 Republicans.

This high-stakes race against time saw members of both the House and Senate rush to pass the spending bill before the looming shutdown deadline. The Senate’s resounding 88-9 vote in favor of the stopgap spending bill was the final lifeline, narrowly averting a midnight shutdown. The bill has now been forwarded to President Biden’s desk, where it awaits his signature to officially become law.

President Biden didn’t waste any time in sealing the deal. Late Saturday night, the White House confirmed that he had indeed signed the bill into law. The President issued a statement in which he praised the bipartisan effort, emphasizing the relief it would bring to countless Americans. In his words, “This bill ensures that active-duty troops will continue to get paid, travelers will be spared airport delays, millions of women and children will continue to have access to vital nutrition assistance, and so much more. This is good news for the American people.”

However, it’s worth noting that not all Republicans were on board with this continuing resolution. Nine Republican senators voted against the bill, displaying their dissent in a time of high tension. Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), and Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) were among those who voiced their concerns. Hagerty, in particular, took to social media to make his stance clear, emphasizing the need for serious border-security measures.

Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Roger Marshall (R-Kansas) also opposed the bill, with Marshall criticizing its failure to address the southern border crisis and the influx of fentanyl. Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Eric Schmitt (Mo.), and J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) rounded off the list of Republicans who voted against the resolution.

This nail-biting episode in Congress highlights the delicate balance of power and priorities in Washington. As the nation looks ahead to the challenges and opportunities of the coming weeks, the implications of this compromise will undoubtedly continue to shape the political landscape.

The post Bipartisan Showdown: How Congress Defied the Deadline to Keep the Nation Running first appeared on The Source.

The post Bipartisan Showdown: How Congress Defied the Deadline to Keep the Nation Running appeared first on The Source.

Countdown to Chaos: Government Shutdown Looms on the Horizon

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As the federal government’s funding deadline approaches, lawmakers are scrambling to avoid a shutdown that could disrupt vital services and harm the economy. However, deep divisions over key issues such as the debt ceiling, infrastructure spending, and abortion rights threaten to derail the negotiations and trigger a crisis.

A government shutdown occurs when Congress fails to pass, or the president vetoes the appropriations bills that fund the operations of federal agencies and programs. Suppose no agreement is reached by midnight on Sept. 30. In that case, at the end of the fiscal year, most non-essential government activities will cease, and hundreds of thousands of federal employees will be furloughed or forced to work without pay. Some critical functions, such as national security, law enforcement, and health care, will continue, but at a reduced capacity or with delayed payments.

The consequences of a shutdown could be severe, especially amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the recovery from natural disasters. According to the Congressional Budget Office, a shutdown could reduce the gross domestic product by 0.5 percentage points in the fourth quarter of 2021 and cost the economy $10 billion weekly. Moreover, a shutdown could undermine public confidence in the government’s ability to manage its finances and address the nation’s challenges.

The main obstacle to reaching a deal is the partisan standoff over the debt ceiling, which is the legal limit on how much the government can borrow to pay its bills. The Treasury Department has warned that it will run out of cash and extraordinary measures to avoid default by mid-October, unless Congress raises or suspends the debt ceiling. However, Republicans have refused to cooperate, arguing that Democrats should use their slim majorities in both chambers to pass a debt ceiling increase on their own, as part of their $3.5 trillion reconciliation package that aims to expand the social safety net and combat climate change. Democrats, on the other hand, have insisted that the debt ceiling is a bipartisan responsibility and have accused Republicans of playing a dangerous game of chicken with the economy.

Another source of contention is the fate of the bipartisan $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill that passed the Senate in August, and the reconciliation package that is linked to it. The infrastructure bill, which would fund roads, bridges, broadband, and other projects, faces opposition from some progressive House Democrats, who want to ensure that the reconciliation package, which would fund child care, health care, education, and clean energy, also passes. However, the reconciliation package faces resistance from some moderate Senate Democrats, who are concerned about its size, scope, and impact on the deficit. The House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, has pledged to bring both bills to a vote by September 27, but it is unclear if she has the votes to pass them.

In addition, the negotiations are complicated by the controversy over abortion rights, following the enactment of a restrictive law in Texas that bans abortions after six weeks of pregnancy and allows private citizens to sue anyone who aids or abets an abortion. Democrats have vowed to protect women’s reproductive rights, and have included provisions in the reconciliation package that would expand access to health care and family planning services. Republicans, however, have denounced the Democrats’ proposals as radical and immoral, and have threatened to use procedural tactics to block them.

With so many issues at stake, and so little time to resolve them, the prospects of a government shutdown are growing. Both parties have blamed each other for the impasse, and have appealed to their respective bases for support. However, the American public, which is already weary of the pandemic and the political polarization, may not be so forgiving if the government fails to function work by early January.

The post Countdown to Chaos: Government Shutdown Looms on the Horizon first appeared on The Source.

The post Countdown to Chaos: Government Shutdown Looms on the Horizon appeared first on The Source.