One Week to Government Shutdown? 

On November 17, government funding runs out. If Republicans in the House of Representatives do not get their act together before next Friday, the government shuts down. 

Congress is supposed to pass 12 appropriations bills to fund the various parts of the government. The federal fiscal year begins on October 1, so appropriations should be made before then. Instead, House Republicans have blocked any action. 

Some headlines say Congress is deadlocked–that’s not true. Congress and the entire nation are being held hostage by a radical right-wing Republican minority in the House of Representatives and by a weak and waffling Republican majority that caves in to their demands.

Representative Sean Casten (D-IL), explained the current mess in a series of posts on social media: 

Nov 10, 2023 at 8:06 AM

It’s hard to explain how dysfunctional the House GOP is, and the degree to which their own internal divisions are superseding every normal function of government. But I’m going to try with a short story about this week in the house. Thread:

1. First: We operate on a 9/30 fiscal year but the (McCarthy) led house couldn’t agree on how to fund prior to. They tried to just say “cut everything by 30%”. That didn’t pass. So they said “let’s just fund at current levels for 45 days”. That cost McCarthy his job.

2. For context, when Dems had the majority we got all our appropriations done by August 1 so the Senate could finalize and POTUS could sign. The House GOP still hasn’t done that.

3. Also, you may recall this summer the House GOP threatened to default on US debt unless we agreed to future spending rules. A deal was struck that passed the House and was signed into law to do so. The 30% cut was not consistent with that law. (AKA, it was illegal)

4. By contrast, the straight 45 day continuing resolution that cost McCarthy his job was legal (in the sense that it did not violate the June agreement and bought us time to do so). OBEYING THE LAW WAS A RED-LINE FOR THE HOUSE GOP. So they fired McCarthy.

5. They then used the first 20 days of that 45 day period to fight over a new speaker. Should we pick someone who hates gay people, fought to overturn the election or creeps on his son’s porn? It took a while, but the House GOP finally said YES to all three.

6. That leaves a lot of work to do by a party that doesn’t like laws, is at war with itself and an inexperienced leadership team. But off we went. Last week, we were supposed to vote on transportation funding. Rs couldn’t agree so Johnson never brought a bill to the floor.

7. (This isn’t just a Johnson problem. McCarthy previously chose not to bring an agriculture funding package to the floor because Rs couldn’t agree. Still don’t have a path on that one.)

8. This week, we were supposed to vote on a funding package for our financial services & general government. Minutes before we were supposed to vote on that yesterday they pulled it on account of internal squabbles too.

9. Note: ALL of these bills violate the law we passed last June. But having discovered that Ds won’t vote to break the law, they are trying to pass these with all R votes. But they’re big mad at each other so even that’s not possible

10. Now to the question on the mind of every libertarian troll who’s read this far. “If government is going to run out of money and you aren’t even voting on bills to fund it why are you wasting my tax dollars in DC?” Well, here’s what they did bring up for votes this week:

11. A bill to prevent the government from using the word “latin-x” – a bill to cut WH press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre’s salary to $1 – a bill to defund the office of gun violence prevention – a bill to eliminate the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau –

12. A bill to cut SEC Chair Gary Gensler’s salary to $1 – a bill to defund the office of gun violence prevention – a bill to prevent the government from developing greenhouse gas disclosure rules – a bill to eliminate 50% of the budget for the consumer product safety commission.

13. These things aren’t urgent. They aren’t helpful. And they aren’t going to become law (See: laws require Senate + POTUS approval). But they keep the idiot wing of the House GOP from turning on their rookie manager. And waste 435 people’s time on the House floor.

14. And so now we are 7 days from a shutdown. Still no path to fund. Still no sign of anyone in the House GOP willing to stand up to their extreme fringe. Still no discernible leadership talents from their new Speaker. Right now it’s annoying. But in 8 days, its disastrous.

15. Because if they can’t get their s**t together, 8 days from now soldiers, air traffic controllers, food safety inspectors, IRS agents, border patrol… all go without pay. Some will be furloughed. Food, heating, housing assistance. Every government function.

16. PLEASE House GOP. Grow up. Stop fighting with your brother and sister in the backseat. Either act like the adults you claim to be or at least have the dignity to go to your room so the adults can babysit your sorry selves. Too much is at stake.

Indeed, too much is at stake. If the government shuts down, only essential services will continue. Essential federal employees will work without paychecks. 

Food is not an essential service, so SNAP (food stamps) and WIC will stop. So will access to Head Start for about 10,000 low-income children. Parks and museum will close; many civil trials will be postponed; customer service at Social Security will slow or stop, though checks will continue to be issued; small business loans will not be processed—the list goes on and on.  

Government employees should get back pay after the shutdown ends. Federal contractors get no back pay. “Contractors” doesn’t mean just big companies. Food service workers, janitors, highway construction workers, and many others are among the contractors who won’t get back pay. Merry Christmas—and here’s your eviction notice. 

Republicans’ disregard of the welfare of the entire nation is beyond irresponsible. As Heather Cox Richardson wrote in her November 9 newsletter: 

“[Far-right Republicans] want to gut the government that regulates business, provides a basic social safety net, promotes infrastructure, and protects civil rights. 

“To impose their will on the majority, they don’t have to understand issues, build coalitions, or figure out compromises. All they have to do is steadfastly vote no. If they can prevent the government from accomplishing anything, they will have achieved their goal.”