McCarthy hopes for a miracle as Congress returns to shutdown row: ‘I’m a believer’
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) is holding out hope for a breakthrough as the nation barrels toward a partial government shutdown in five days.
The House and Senate will be back in session Tuesday after taking an extended break for a three-day weekend and the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur with all eyes on McCarthy to find a way to break the deadlock in his chamber.
“Look, I’m a believer in everything,” the speaker told reporters Monday. “I never give up.”
McCarthy plans to continue his push for a stopgap spending bill this week to temporarily keep the government fully open while simultaneously plowing ahead with individual appropriations bills meant to fund operations through next year.
His prior attempts went down to defeat last week, with five Republican rebels joining House Democrats to block the advancement of any spending measure.
Democrats have been slow to throw McCarthy a lifeline and he seems reluctant to accept one as GOP rebels dangle a motion to oust him.
“I’ve never seen a group that is as hellbent on a shutdown as these crazy MAGA Republicans — that small group,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) told CNN last week.
“I am still hopeful. I am still optimistic that once the Senate acts in a bipartisan [way] … that maybe the House will follow our example.”
Schumer has signaled that he may work with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to pass a spending patch, which would likely need 60 votes.
At that point, McCarthy would be given the choice of whether or not to take that up for a vote in the House and roil his right flank.
However, the Senate has also been unable to pass any appropriation bills so far after a so-called “minibus” package went down to defeat last week.
Meanwhile, the White House — facing polls showing Americans dissatisfied with President Biden — has ramped up their attacks on the Capitol Hill GOP.
“This will be a Republican shutdown,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre insisted to reporters Monday. “This shouldn’t be happening.”
An ABC-Washington Post survey released Sunday found that 40% of registered voters would primarily blame Democrats for a government shutdown, while 33% would blame Republicans. The Washington Post dubbed its own poll an “outlier.”
Over the weekend, top House Republicans reportedly drafted another stopgap continuing resolution featuring even more dramatic cuts than the one previously brokered by the conservative Freedom Caucus and more centrist Main Street Caucus.
The newer version would see a 27% reduction in non-Pentagon and non-Veterans Affairs discretionary spending, according to Bloomberg, up from the 8% reduction from the prior deal — and all but ensuring its failure in the Senate or veto by Biden.
While the Freedom Caucus-Main Street Caucus compromise would have funded the government through Oct. 31, the pitch unveiled over the weekend would have kept the lights on through Nov. 15.
McCarthy’s delicate attempt to peel off GOP rebels took a body blow Sunday from former President Donald Trump, who wrote on Truth Social of a potential shutdown: “Whoever is President will be blamed, in this case, Crooked (as Hell!) Joe Biden!”
“UNLESS YOU GET EVERYTHING, SHUT IT DOWN!” he added in all caps.
Hard-liners like McCarthy’s chief GOP agitator, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) have been adamant that they won’t vote for any continuing resolution at all.
Republican presidential hopefuls are chiming in on the impasse as well. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has encouraged the dissenters to stand strong, while former Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley argued Monday a partial shutdown would only hurt taxpayers.
“It is irresponsible and inexcusable that you would let government shut down. It is also irresponsible and inexcusable to not cut all of the spending,” she told Bloomberg Television.
Moderate Republicans are fearful of political blowback for a shutdown, but hard-liners appear to believe they’ll reap the political rewards.
“People in my district are willing to shut the government down for more conservative fiscal policy to put us on a path to balancing our budget at least in ten years,” Rep. Greg Steube (R-Fla.) told Fox News Sunday night.
“I think that the only way that a CR passes is with Democratic votes,” Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.) told Semafor.
With a CR bill drafted, but out of reach for now, McCarthy is trying to move forward with the appropriations bills, the traditional avenue for funding the government.
He previously pledged to pass all 12 of them individually, a key demand from Gaetz and other hard-right lawmakers during the marathon battle for the Speaker’s gavel in January. So far, the House has only passed one.
But holdout Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) is foiling plans to advance the rest, vowing to vote against the rules for those bills until aid to Ukraine is removed entirely.
Meanwhile, Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) expressed openness to backing a motion to vacate the chair and oust McCarthy — something Gaetz has openly threatened to introduce.
With Republicans only holding a four-seat majority in the House, that could pose an existential threat to McCarthy’s speakership.
“I’m not worrying if someone makes a motion,” McCarthy told reporters Monday. “I’m not worried if somebody votes no. I’m going to wake up each day with the same thing that drives my opinion of what needs to be done.”
