The Republican president’s clash with his fellow party members has put America on the verge of a shutdown

For one more week, security guards at US airports will continue to be paid for their work. In a week, Republican Kevin McCarthy could still jump into the House of Representatives. But no one in Washington dared to say which of those two things was still true on October 1.

With no budget approved by Oct. 1, the U.S. government goes into shutdown, halting all non-essential work and halting many payments. It’s happened before — most recently at the end of 2018 — but it always involves clashes between one party with a strong position in Congress and the leader of the other. Now thanks to a few Republican representatives.

Their leader, McCarthy, cannot bring them into line. If he misses the votes of five or more of his party members, he does not even have a majority in the House. Rebel Republicans have reminded him of this fact in recent weeks: They’ve voted against their group in many procedural votes, while these have been hammer votes for years.

Temporary stop connection

In principle, those airport security guards and hundreds of thousands of other federal officials could still work. The House of Representatives, and then the Senate, can adopt a moratorium that allows government spending to temporarily continue at last year’s level. It gives, for example, a month to negotiate further.

But that’s not a solution, according to agitators led by Rep. Matt Gates of Florida. Especially if the midterm budget doesn’t meet their wishes: spending cuts, but more money to secure the southern border with Mexico and not a cent more for Ukraine.

Some dissidents are also calling for an end to all federal spending on criminal cases against former President Donald Trump. He does not have to believe that these criminal cases will be delayed if the government runs out of money next year. After all, there are special reserve funds for lawyers and courts.

A bleak future

As the right wing Gideons see it, the future looks bleak for President McCarthy. Because if he submits to the demands of that small group and submits radical austerity plans, the moderate members of his group risk voting against them. He loses all credibility with Democrats and President Biden.

McCarthy recently reached an agreement with the US president on government spending last May. Then came the conflict over the size of the US debt ceiling. Both leaders later decided that spending would be allowed to increase further, but below inflation.

If no compromise can be found within the Republican Party, McCarthy could theoretically turn to Democrats to gather votes for a temporary budget. In the Senate, where the soup is thin on both sides, Democrats and Republicans are already negotiating. Completely by accident America will then have a form of coalition government.

But in the House of Representatives, it could cause a disastrous chain reaction. Democrats there will demand significant concessions. Some have said AccusationThe investigation into President Joe Biden’s alleged past corruption along with his son Hunter should be stopped.

Toilet operation

Long before that happened, right-wing rebels would have filed a petition to impeach McCarthy. Perhaps coincidentally, perhaps a shot across the bow, a draft for such a motion was discovered last week in a toilet room at the Capitol.

Unless the Democrats go one step further and put McCarthy in the saddle, such a motion would pass with an all-Democrat and rebel vote. But if Democrats save the president, he will lose power among his Republican colleagues.

So the opportunity to give the country a new lease of life as McCarthy as president seems enormous shutdown lead to To the outrage of Democrats and the shame of moderate Republicans. Democratic Rep. Angie Craig introduced a bill that would freeze the salaries of members of Congress if the government were to close the counters. There is talk of putting legislation to a vote in the Senate, which would make a shutdown all but impossible. If the budget is not adopted on time, spending by definition can continue, but in the meantime Congress will not be concerned with anything but budget work.

But whether the legislation will pass and whether it can be trusted with a majority in the House of Representatives is questionable. It was on the shelf for five years.

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