Congressional Leaders Express Desire to Prevent Shutdown, Yet House and Senate Drift Further Apart

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The U.S. Congress is manifestly split over divergent strategies aimed at averting a government shutdown. The Senate is aggressively pursuing a bipartisan approach to provide interim funding for the government. Meanwhile, the House is engrossed in an ambitious but impractical initiative that appears unlikely to meet the looming Saturday deadline.

As the possibility of a federal shutdown looms ever closer, the absence of a viable resolution escalates the level of urgency. A government closure would result in the furloughing of millions of federal workers, halt military pay, disrupt air transportation, and curtail essential safety net services. Such an event would be politically damaging to lawmakers, whose primary responsibility is to ensure government financing.

Earlier this year, President Joe Biden reached a budget agreement with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy that was later enacted. The President believes that it is now incumbent upon House Republicans to fulfill their end of the deal.

Government Shutdown: Additional Context

Federal employees who have endured previous shutdowns are bracing for another potentially challenging period. The question of what such a closure would mean, who would be impacted, and what would follow remains unanswered. McCarthy finds himself entangled in efforts to pass a short-term spending bill as alternative strategies emerge.

“The responsibility lies with them,” stated White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, referring to the House Republicans’ duty to resolve the situation.

On Tuesday evening, the Senate took a decisive step to break the impasse, advancing a stopgap measure—known as a Continuing Resolution (CR)—that would sustain government operations until November 17. The measure maintains current funding levels and allocates an additional $6 billion for Ukraine and $6 billion for U.S. disaster relief, among other items. Although slated for Senate approval later this week, the measure faces an uphill battle in the House.

Speaker McCarthy, under pressure from a hard-right faction that opposes his agreement with President Biden, showed no interest in the Senate’s bipartisan proposal, particularly the added funding for Ukraine. Instead, he is reintroducing a House Republican version of a temporary funding bill that proposes an 8% cut in federal spending for several agencies, alongside stringent border security provisions.

While McCarthy aims to provoke Biden into negotiations concerning the border package, his leverage is limited, and the White House has played down the possibility of engaging in talks. McCarthy also faces the considerable challenge of pushing through bills required to finance various government departments, including Defense, Homeland Security, Agriculture, and State and Foreign Operations. After days of setbacks, it remains uncertain whether he can secure sufficient votes from his hard-right faction to pass these key bills.

The right-wing holdouts, led by figures such as Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, are pushing for additional cuts and opposing funds earmarked for Ukraine. Greene stated her vote against advancing the package was to save everyone’s time since the bills are poised for failure.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer commented that the Senate’s bill represents a triumph of bipartisanship over extremism, warning that a government shutdown would have severe repercussions for the country.

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell has expressed support for the bipartisan Senate proposal, stating plainly, “Government shutdowns are bad news.”

Meanwhile, the far-right members of the House, encouraged by former President Donald Trump, are advocating for a stand-off, thereby exacerbating tensions. Trump has urged them to either sustain the fight or risk a government shutdown.

This week also witnesses House Republicans initiating the first impeachment inquiry hearing against Biden, probing the business activities of his son, Hunter Biden. The timing coincides with discussions among former Trump officials about plans to reduce the federal workforce should Trump regain the presidency.

McCarthy, who communicated with McConnell recently, dismissed Trump’s influence as a mere negotiation strategy, even as his far-right colleagues continue to undermine his efforts. Due to the narrow majority in the House, this faction’s influence is disproportionate, affecting McCarthy’s ability to pass any bill without Democratic support.

At stake is not just the current government funding but also broader issues, such as Ukraine’s fight against Russia and the U.S.’s escalating national debt. Despite these complexities, the hardline Republicans are pressing for more, including revoking the funding for Ukraine.

Rep. Matt Gaetz, a leading member of the hard-right faction, argued that although a shutdown is not the optimal outcome, it is preferable to the financial collapse that he believes the current path would lead to.

The extensive legislative tasks ahead involve the passage of 12 annual bills needed to fund various government departments—a process that typically stretches over weeks or even months. Even if the House manages to pass some of these bills this week, they would still have to be reconciled with similar Senate legislation, prolonging the deadlock.

Contributors to This Report

Kevin Freking, Mary Clare Jalonick, Farnoush Amiri, and Josh Boak of Big Big News contributed to this analysis.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about Government Shutdown

More about Government Shutdown

• Government Shutdown Explained
• Understanding Bipartisanship in Congress
• The Role of Continuing Resolutions in Federal Budgeting
• President Biden’s Budget Proposals
• The Influence of Hard-Right Republicans in the House
• Donald Trump’s Role in Current Politics
• U.S. National Debt and Its Implications
• Ukraine Crisis and U.S. Foreign Policy
• The Legislative Process in the U.S. Congress
• Political Impact of Government Shutdowns on Lawmakers