WASHINGTON (AP) — Speaker Kevin McCarthy was running out of options Monday as he pushed ahead with a plan to keep the federal government from shutting down, but even including hardline border security provisions wasn’t enough to appease the far-right flank in his Republican House majority.
The speaker is trying to convince his Republican conference that there will heavy political fallout from a shutdown as he plows toward a vote to pass a stopgap measure, called a continuing resolution, that would keep government offices open past the Sept. 30 deadline. GOP leadership is preparing for a vote by Thursday, but McCarthy is warning he’ll keep House lawmakers in Washington into the weekend. Regardless, many are already bracing for a weeks-long shutdown.
“I’ve told all of Congress you’re not going to go home. We’re going to continue to work through this,” McCarthy said Monday at the Capitol. “Things that are tough sometimes are worth it.”
He also suggested that time is still on his side and panned the idea of compromising with Democrats as he tries to pass the annual spending measures on his own, saying there were “a lot of good ideas” still coming from Republicans.
What they’ve talked about so far is dead on arrival in the Senate. Democrats are not going to accept it and have been clear for months on sticking to the negotiated deal with Biden. Instead the most extreme of his caucus continues to go back on that deal and demand McCarthy pass what they want. Some of that group have more or less said they will oust McCarthy (only takes one rep) if they don’t get all they want.
I don’t see the Democratic Senate caving to what the house GOP has proposed, and some of the Senate GOP have also said what the house GOP wants is a non-starter.
Unclear if they are actually bluffing about ousting McCarthy, I think there is a reasonable chance they will oust him. At which point who knows what will happen.