Government Shutdown Avoided in Light of Recent Upset
Washington D.C. has witnessed unrest since the reconvening of Congress. The potential of a government shutdown and vote to remove Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) loom, as does the Impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden (D). House Democrats are working to avoid a shutdown, driven by their belief that House Republicans are causing little movement to please former President Donald Trump. Republicans have disagreed with this point of view, believing Democrats are unwilling to cooperate. The Senate voted 77-19 in favor of a bill to extend the shutdown deadline to November 17, suggesting that leaders Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Mitch McConnell (R-KY) are on the same page. McCarthy said he would not hold a vote.
Congressman Jim McGovern (D-MA) says that for Massachusetts, a shutdown would be “…an unmitigated disaster…” Representative McGovern thinks that the GOP is, “…willing to shutdown the government…” He also said Speaker McCarthy, “…handed over his gavel to the extremist MAGA wingnuts…” and that, “…they only want to impeach the President, kick out their own speaker, and shutdown the government.”
Beyond the shutdown, as Representative McGovern mentioned, Speaker McCarthy is not safe in his seat. A vote to remove him could take place, after the September 30th deadline to fund the Government is passed. Democrats view Speaker McCarthy as “extreme” and are forcing a Government shutdown. House Republicans who more strongly align themselves with former President Donald Trump believe the opposite, that Speaker McCarthy is too liberal. These ideas were sparked after Speaker McCarthy and President Biden agreed to a debt limit deal during the summer.
The Impeachment inquiry has been met with negative reception, not only by Democrats but also Republicans- mostly due to lack of evidence. Senate Republican, Whip John Thune (SD), has expressed distaste towards the inquiry. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) believes that Impeachment cannot become a regular thing and must be a last resort. The White House views the case as Republican extremism. Republicans believe that President Biden has been involved in his son Hunter’s business dealings, which are under investigation.
NPR reports that as of September 30th, a spending measure was passed that will fund the government up until November 17th. This is a temporary measure and once the money runs out, Congress will have to reconsider issues that have been controversial such as funding the war in Ukraine.
Update: On October 3rd, The Washington Post reported that Kevin McCarthy has been ousted as House speaker in a 216-210 vote.
Full Quote
[“A shutdown means over 20,000 people in Massachusetts suddenly not getting a paycheck. That means they can’t pay rent or buy food. That’s a disaster for local economies. Within just a few days, over 125,000 moms, children, and infants would be turned away from the grocery counter as funding for the Women, Infants, Children program dries up. Republicans are literally willing to shut down the government and take food out of the mouths of hungry infants in order to make a political point. It is sick. Then our cutting-edge biomedical research into diseases like cancer and Alzheimer’s would be put on hold. We’d see increased delays at airports throughout New England as TSA and air traffic controllers are furloughed without pay. Not to mention the long-term harm a shutdown would do to our fiscal stability. A Republican Shutdown would be an unmitigated disaster for Massachusetts.”
“Instead of working with Democrats to get stuff done, House Republicans have spent the last nine months fighting with each other. Kevin McCarthy handed over his gavel to the extremist MAGA wingnuts, and as far as I can tell, they only want to impeach the President, kick out their own speaker, and shut down the government. They couldn’t jam through their extreme cuts that hurt regular people, so now they want to take out their frustration on the American people.”]
