Speaker Kevin McCarthy is running out of options as he struggles Monday to come up with a plan to prevent a shutdown of the federal government, as even a proposal to include tough border security provisions was not enough to appease the far-right flank in his majority Republicans in the House of Representatives.
The speaker told his Republican conference that they should be prepared to hold out this weekend to pass a stopgap measure, a so-called continuing resolution, that would keep government offices open beyond September. 30 deadline. But many are already preparing for the severe political consequences of a federal shutdown.
“I told the entire Congress that you are not going home. We will continue to work on this,” McCarthy said Monday at the Capitol. “Things that are sometimes difficult are worth it.”
He also pointed out that time is still on his side and floated the idea of a compromise with Democrats as he tries to pass the annual spending measures on his own, saying there are still “a lot of good ideas” coming from Republicans. came.
“This is not the 30th – we still have a long way to go,” he said.
House Republicans voted Thursday to pass a month-long funding bill negotiated between the right-wing House Freedom Caucus and a group of pragmatic-minded conservatives called the Main Street Caucus, according to people familiar with the call.
McCarthy called the package a “bottom-up” approach, and it was intended to win support from the conservative wing of the Republican Conference by including a 1% spending cut from last year’s spending levels, as well as a series of Republican proposals for border security and immigration . To protect Republican spending priorities for defense, veterans and disaster relief, other spending will be cut by over 8%.
With the Democratic-controlled Senate unlikely to accept any of the conservative options, the best hope McCarthy has right now is to simply pass a measure to spur debate with the other chamber. But even that path is uncertain as time for an agreement dwindles.
McCarthy planned to vote on a Defense Department bill Wednesday and the emergency funding measure the next day.
“There are quite a few people against it right now,” said Rep. Kevin Hern, R-Okla., chairman of the Republican Study Committee, the largest conservative faction in the House, adding that he was still considering the proposal A lot of work was done “behind the scenes” to win the votes for passage.
The leaders of the so-called “Five Families” – the various conservative factions that make up the Republican majority in the House of Representatives – are expected to meet behind closed doors in the speaker’s office later on Monday.
It’s crucial that they find a common path forward for McCarthy, who only has eight working days left in the session before funding runs out.
“This framework secures the border and keeps the government open. Republicans need to focus on these things,” said Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., who chairs the Mainstreet Caucus and helped draft the proposal.
Congress is running out of time to act. Although McCarthy still maintains he still has time to maneuver before the government’s fiscal year ends, he has also sought to warn his party that a government shutdown is likely to backfire politically.
“I’ve been through shutdowns, and I’ve never seen anyone win a shutdown, because when you do a shutdown, you give all the power to the government,” McCarthy said in an interview with Fox News on Sunday.
“How are you going to enforce your arguments for securing the border if the border guards are not paid? How do you plan to win the arguments to banish the wake-up caller from the Defense Ministry? When our own troops aren’t even paid. You have no strength.”
But McCarthy is already encountering resistance. A handful of Republicans took to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, shortly after Sunday’s call, criticizing even the package of spending cuts and border measures as woefully inadequate.
One of the Freedom Caucus lawmakers who helped craft the proposal, Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Florida, said in a statement that as he answered calls in his office on Monday, he heard the frustration of people who “feeling lied to and sold to”. downstream from Washington politicians.”
“What House Republicans want to achieve is simple: much-needed border security and real budget cuts,” he said.
Many are preparing for a government shutdown next month. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce issued a memo to the business community on Monday saying there is “substantial consensus” that there will be a long shutdown and warning that there is “no clear path to reopening.” the government”.
“Individuals and businesses rely on the discretionary functions of government every day,” the chamber wrote. “From passports and permits to clinical trials and contractors, a well-functioning economy requires a functioning government.”
The Biden administration also points to the potential harm that could result from a funding freeze. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on CNBC on Monday: “We have a good, strong economy and creating a situation that could lead to a loss of momentum is something we don’t need.”
McCarthy could potentially persuade House Democrats to pass a stopgap measure if he were willing to strip conservative policy gains from a funding bill. But several right-wing members are threatening to oust him as speaker if he does so.
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