WASHINGTON (AP) — With five days to go before a government shutdown, Congress returns to work in crisis mode. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy faces an insurgency from hard-right Republicans eager to slash spending even if it means closing federal offices to millions of Americans. On Tuesday evening, the House is expected to vote on a package of government funding bills, but it’s not at all clear that McCarthy has the support needed.
During comments from the White House on Monday, President Biden said that fundng the government is one of the most basic responsibilities of Congress.
Meanwhile, the Senate, trying to stave off a federal closure, is preparing its own bipartisan plan for a stopgap measure to buy some time and keep offices funded past Saturday’s deadline as work in Congress continues. But plans to tack on additional Ukraine aid have run into trouble as a number of Republicans in both the House and Senate oppose spending more money on the war effort.
Against the mounting chaos, President Joe Biden warned the Republican conservatives off their hardline tactics, saying funding the federal government is “one of the most basic fundamental responsibilities of Congress.”
President hopeful Donlad Trump urged congressional republicans to block all spending bills, including those that would forn the DOJ Special Prosecutor Jack Smith.
In a Truth Social post, Trump told Republicans who are worried they will be blamed for a shutdown that they’re “wrong!!!” and predicted the public would instead blame “crooked (as hell!) Joe Biden.”
The embattled former POTUS bashed Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, writing, “It’s time Republicans learn how to fight!” He accused Sen. McConnell of bowing to Democrats, calling him “the weakest, dumbest and most conflicted ‘leader’ in U.S. Senate history.”
(Associated Press)
