Just four days out from a government shutdown, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has declared a bipartisan Senate stopgap measure dead on arrival.
Senators, having apparently lost faith in McCarthy’s ability to stave off a shutdown, negotiated a bill late Tuesday night that funds the government until Nov. 17 and includes $12 billion in aid and disaster relief for Ukraine. It’s expected to be voted on by the end of the week before being sent over to the House, and is intended to buy lawmakers more time to hash out a longer-term deal, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said.
But, according to Punchbowl News, McCarthy said in a closed-door meeting on Wednesday morning that he wouldn’t take up a bill that includes Ukraine funding but no border security measures. “I don’t see the support in the House,” he reportedly said.
Aid for Ukraine has been one of several sticking points for ultraconservative hardliners in the House who have repeatedly sabotaged McCarthy’s efforts to get spending bills passed.
I think that’s expecting too generous a response from voters. To be clear, I don’t want a shutdown even if MAGA Republicans are 100% blamed for it. There’s just too many people that will be hurt by this.
But unfortunately, those dumb motherfuckers will immediately forget who held the government hostage and damaged the entire country to do it. I say that as judgementally as possible because they are willfully stupid, as long as they can hurt those they don’t agree with… And make no mistake: this will hurt the economy, and unfortunately even “moderate” Republicans will blame Biden for that. No one but Trump wins from a government shutdown…
edit: autocorrect