The government shutdown is in the process of being averted:
- Congress has passed a stopgap funding measure within hours of its deadline to prevent a federal government shutdown. It now goes to President Joe Biden’s desk for approval, and the White House has indicated he will sign it.
- The Senate approved the measure Saturday evening after the House abruptly reversed course earlier in the day and passed a bipartisan bill. The bill needed support from two-thirds of House members to pass under an expedited process.
- House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s job could now be on the line. Hardline conservatives threatened to oust him if he relied on Democratic votes to avert a shutdown.
- The stopgap bill will keep the government open through November 17 and includes natural disaster aid but not additional funding for Ukraine, due to objections from some conservatives. The Biden administration has warned this would have serious consequences for the war.
Only 45 days of funding, which seems a trifle absurd. As an engineer, though, I’m inclined to fix problems as permanently as possible.
This isn’t it.
I’ve gotta wonder about the unannounced tradeoffs. Did the Democrats agree to support McCarthy’s ego by voting to keep him in the Speaker’s chair if a member of the Freedom Caucus tries to vote him out? Did McCarthy promise to try to expel anyone as I’ve suggested?
And what about the Ukraine support? Will Biden sign? My reader will probably know by the time they read this, but I could see Biden rejecting the legislation on those grounds, because the Putin’s War is one of the most important events of the decade, a chance to kick a national adversary in the shin and remind them that democracies will be successful governing models.
But 45 days suggests preparation time of some sort. Are the Democrats betting the Republicans can commit suicide in that period? The Republicans believe they can inflict some damage on the Democrats, despite a record of shocking futility in this Congress so far?
Stay tuned.
And … Erick Erickson is pissed, but he still doesn’t get it. It’s not just a few bad apples in a barrel. It’s a toxic culturing medium that leads to an empty leadership corp, which is then taken over by vile opportunists like McCarthy, Gaetz, Boebert, Greene, Gosar, Perry, and etc, all incompetent fourth-raters. The Republican Party, for so long as it clings to Gingrich’s Dictums of extremism, blind loyalty, and refusing to work with Democrats on a regular basis, will continue to be the party of the fourth-raters. Such is the fruits of a toxic team culture.
Add in the arrogance that both parties possess and it’s a recipe for disaster.
