Sunday, October 01, 2023

Shutdown delayed; McCarthy on the clock

The MSM likes to say a shutdown has been "averted," but in reality, Congress just kicked the can down the road for 45 days.

From AP --

Government shutdown averted with little time to spare as Biden signs funding before midnight

The threat of a federal government shutdown suddenly lifted late Saturday as President Joe Biden signed a temporary funding bill to keep agencies open with little time to spare after Congress rushed to approve the bipartisan deal.

The package drops aid to Ukraine, a White House priority opposed by a growing number of GOP lawmakers, but increases federal disaster assistance by $16 billion, meeting Biden’s full request. The bill funds government until Nov. 17.

[snip]

The outcome ends, for now, the threat of a shutdown, but the reprieve may be short-lived. Congress will again need to fund the government in coming weeks risking a crisis as views are hardening, particularly among the right-flank lawmakers whose demands were ultimately swept aside this time in favor of a more bipartisan approach.

Thanksgiving will be on November 23 this year; this funding will expire just before that.  So we'll going through this again during the run up to that holiday.

Of course,  Kevin McCarthy may not be Speaker of the House at that point.

From BBC (UK) -

Hardline Republicans seek to oust House Speaker Kevin McCarthy

A hardline Republican says he will seek to oust House Speaker Kevin McCarthy this week, after he pushed through a last-minute spending bill with support from the opposition Democrats.

Mr McCarthy submitted the bill - aimed at averting a government shutdown - in defiance of the right of his party.

They had already vowed to topple him if he tried to overcome their opposition with Democratic support.

Hardline Republicans in both houses of Congress voted against the motion.

[snip]

On Sunday, Rep Matt Gaetz vowed to oust Mr McCarthy, telling the CNN that House Republicans needed "trustworthy" leadership.

"I do intend to file a motion to vacate against Speaker McCarthy this week," said Mr Gaetz, long a vocal critic of the Californian congressman. "I think we need to move on with new leadership that can be trustworthy."

I think that McCarthy will survive the initial threat to his speakership, if only because Gaetz is so profoundly and personally unpopular.

Plus, instead of voting for Democrat Hakeem Jeffries, the Rs will try to select a speaker from their caucus.

And though he may be a lousy human being and a worse public servant, the least bad R may be the one that they're intent on deposing.


The Senate vote on the measure is here.  The only surprise in it is that a certain Senator from Arizona didn't vote against the measure because it didn't contain enough money for hedge fund managers.

The House vote on the measure is here.  No surprises here. Arizona Republicans Biggs, Crane, Lesko, Schweikert, and, of course, Paul Gosar voted against it; all other members from AZ voted for it.


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