POLITICS
Congress Heads Into Battle To Avert Government Shutdown
Courtesy of @visitthecapitol via Instagram
Lawmakers return to Capitol Hill this week after a monthlong summer recess, and have little time to reach an agreement that avoids a government shutdown.
The divided Congress must pass a spending bill before the fiscal year ends on Sept. 30, and the Democrat-led Senate and Republican-led House are far from agreement.
Congressional leaders have been focused on passing a continuing resolution, a stopgap measure that would keep the government running until a budget can be finalized. Although continuing resolutions are regularly used to avoid government shutdowns, some lawmakers are against the measure.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) is facing pressure from members of the House Freedom Caucus to include conservative policy goals in any spending package, including measures to block abortion and transgender healthcare, and limit immigration.
McCarthy is also facing pressure to begin an impeachment inquiry into President Biden. In a video posted on social media, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) said she would not vote to fund the government until the House votes to begin an impeachment inquiry.
In the Senate, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) urged bipartisanship to avoid a government shutdown, while Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) last week said that the House GOP’s funding plans created “a pretty big mess.”
“The speaker and the president reached an agreement, which I supported, in connection with raising the debt ceiling to set spending levels for next year. The House then turned around and passed spending levels that were below that level,” McConnell told reporters in Kentucky last week, shortly before appearing to freeze.
He said that course of action was “not going to be replicated in the Senate.”
The routine brinksmanship between Democrats and Republicans during budget season has far-reaching economic effects, experts say.
“If we continue to stall these potential government shutdowns to the very last minute, we run the risk of another credit downgrade which isn’t good for the U.S. economy. The trust and reputation of the full faith, credit, and obligation of the U.S. Government will start to be questioned more and more around the globe,” said Ted Jenkin, founder and CEO of Atlanta-based oXYGen Financial.
“It’s time for our politicians to stop pointing the finger at each other and playing the blame game, and sit around the table to come up with solutions to create a sensible, long-term balanced budget. These eleventh-hour conversations aren’t good for the public and not good for our country,” Jenkin said.
TMX contributed to this article.
