The Republican Party unveiled an unconventional federal funding transition plan on Saturday, November 11, threatening possible budget paralysis – a shutdown – in just a few days.
This two-part plan is “a necessary text to best position Republicans in the House of Representatives to defend conservative victories,” said Republican Mike Johnson, the new speaker of the House of Representatives. “The bill will end the absurd Christmas tradition of introducing huge, overstuffed spending bills just before the Christmas holidays,” Johnson wrote on X (formerly Twitter), without providing details.
US media have argued that under this unusual plan, some bills necessary to maintain federal services would be passed through a short-term bill by January 19, 2024, while the rest would be postponed until February 2. This would buy time for Congress to pass various spending bills without allocating funds for Israel, Ukraine and border security.
Some Republicans are already complaining that the plan does not include the funding cuts they sought. It is therefore not certain that the party that only has a narrow majority in the House of Representatives can take it over, much less the Democratic-controlled Senate.
A “recipe for more Republican chaos”
The White House called the proposal “a recipe for more Republican chaos and more shutdowns.” “House Republicans are wasting precious time on a frivolous proposal that has been roundly criticized by members of both parties,” presidential spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement.
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The state budget expires on Friday evening at midnight. Without an agreement by then, the world’s largest economy will suddenly become weaker – 1.5 million civil servants will lose their salaries and air traffic will be disrupted.
The most recent negotiations over the American federal budget at the end of September had already plunged the institution into chaos. Trumpist elected officials were furious that then-Republican Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy had reached a last-minute deal with the Democratic camp and fired him – a completely unprecedented situation.
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It then took three weeks for elected officials to agree on a new speaker, Mike Johnson. Three weeks in which the American Congress was unable to pass any law. This elected official from Louisiana, unknown to the general public and with very limited experience on the Republican general staff, will, like his predecessor, have to contend with a handful of Trumpists, proponents of very strict budget orthodoxy, and the Democrats who refuse to go along with that The country’s economic policy is dictated by lieutenants of the former president.
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