The phrase “government shutdown” is fear-striking yet highly possible in the U.S. in the coming days.
As seemingly dystopian as a government shutdown sounds, it has happened thrice since 2013 with the most recent shutdown from 2018 to 2019 that lasted 35 days.
Shutdowns of the government occur when Congress fails to enact legislation to fund the next fiscal year of government or at least a temporary measure to keep the government up and running. During government shutdowns, federal agencies cease to function with the exception of essential business until Congress can agree upon a plan.
So, the looming shutdown of 2023 is bordering on inevitable as, despite the fact that Republicans have a narrow majority of 221 to the Democrats’ 212, the party is continuing to experience the in-fighting that has plagued the party since Former President Trump ran in 2016.
The bill in question that has the Republicans split is a temporary fix to the situation in the form of a stopgap bill that would cut funding for everything except for Defense and Veterans Affairs by 8% and fund the government through October 31. It was proposed and written by the House Freedom Caucus and the House Main Street Caucus on Sunday, September 17.
However, since Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, a controversial figure amongst House Republicans supports the bill in order to avoid a shutdown, many hard-line Republicans oppose it. Already 16 Republicans have claimed to be a probable or definite “no” on the bill, which is enough to cause it to fail, despite McCarthy’s claims that he “doesn’t know” if he has enough supporters for the continuing resolution, or CR, to pass.
A strong component of why part of the split strongly opposes the plan is because it would cut the majority of the GOP’s border crackdown bill—many strong-right Conservative Republicans see this plan as a temporary fix and a concession to Democrats rather than a permanent solution that aligns with their political agendas.
On the other hand, the writers and supporters of the CR view the bill as a misunderstood and powerful tool to pressure Democrats in the Senate and executive branch in negotiations for a package they have planned.
This high-tension situation in the House carried onto the social platform X (formerly known as Twitter); Republicans on each side of the situation bickered, cursed, or simply revealed their vote. Posts ranged from “NO” by Rep. Eli Crain (R-AZ) to an elaborate and explicit debate between Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL).
Through this borderline petty conflict within the Republican party, both the government and therefore the people are those who face the most severe consequences. If action is not taken soon, a shutdown will surely be in order.
Since none of the 12 necessary annual appropriations bills needed to be passed in order to keep the government funded have been passed yet and the fiscal year ends on September 30, time is running out for the House of Representatives.
