New Republican Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, now faces a similar task that got his predecessor, Kevin McCarthy, removed as Speaker of the House, creating a federal budget plan to prevent a government shutdown.
Republican Speaker of the House: Mike Johnson Source: ABC News
But what would a government shutdown entail? After a federal budget plan is not passed, federal agencies have no plan for spending money that is approved by Congress. The Anti-Deficiency Act, passed in 1884, prohibits federal agencies from spending money without Congressional approval. As a result, federal agencies cannot pay their employees, and thousands get put on furlough while essential government workers, such as law enforcement, work without pay. While federal employees are paid retroactively when the shutdown ends, they need a stable income in the present, not the future.
With the upcoming federal funding deadlines this Friday, Johnson needs to create a funding plan that will both gain some Democratic votes and not alienate far-right members of Congress. His approach was to create a complex temporary funding plan with two deadlines in January and February to finalize budgets. This plan would keep the government from shutting down but faced opposition from the Republican House of Representatives caucus called the Freedom Caucus. Member and Texas Representative Chip Roy said on X (formerly known as Twitter) that “I 100% oppose” in reference to House Speaker Johnson’s plan. While the Democrats seem open to his plan, they are still in the process of discussing it, according to a senior House Democratic aide.
Source: U.S. News
Since the GOP majority is so small, Johnson needs to alienate as few far-right members as possible to get the bill passed with only Republican votes or gain even more Democratic support at the expense of the far-right. Will Johnson be able to pass his funding plan to prevent a government shutdown? One only has to wait until Friday to see.
- Amit Shilon
Sources:
https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/13/politics/mike-johnson-shutdown-house-gop-government-budget/index.html
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/sep/26/what-government-shutdown-means-2023
9 comments:
It sounds like the inability to compromise will hurt thousands of workers across the nation...seems unfair working people will be paying the price for the lack of productivity in Congress.
Just curious, what exactly are the major points of disagreement in the funding? I would assume the Republicans would want to cut funding for certain agencies, while the Democrats are in favor of spending more?
It is unfortunate to see that polarization is once again having the potential to affect millions of Americans as our legislature cannot pass a budget plan because of largely political (party bias) differences. I personally hope, similar to probably most Americans, that we will do anything to pass such a budget to prevent a major government shutdown. However, it seems only time will tell whether or not we are able to pass an effective budget because of immense polarization.
The decision that Mike Johnson will make will affect millions of Americans. If a decison is not made millions will be left without pay which can impact thier lives like not being able to pay certain bills. There is a ton of pressure on Johnson because he needs to basically please both sides because if he doesn't there can be some consequences. Although I wonder why is it that they can't come to a decision or compromise? What are the major differences that are making this budget decison so hard. Hearing that there is a possibility that the goverment may shutdown is scary alone but again it can affect millions of Americans and organizations/agencies.
One clear flaw in this system is that Congress members face more consequences (in terms of public opinion) for reaching an agreement that is not completely ideal for their party than not reaching one at all, because both parties are equally blamed for not coming to an agreement while individual parties/single individuals can be assigned blame for making bad compromises. This has the effect of influencing Congress members to avoid compromising even when that does not accurately reflect public interest.
@Chris L
Democrats are actually big fans of the plan (for the most part) as it is basically saying "keep the government operating as it is now" and is pretty identical to the spending under former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. Republicans are much more divided because they would like to implement spending cuts on non-essential agencies and see the mere continuation of previous spending plans a "defeat" for Republicans in front of Republicans. They aren't necessarily wrong. Most Republican voters likely disapprove of Johnson's choice to prioritize avoiding a shutdown at the expense of their party's goals.
It's disheartening to see how political polarization could impact the functioning of the government and affect millions of citizens. The hope is that lawmakers prioritize the needs of the people over party differences to ensure the timely passage of an effective budget. The uncertainty surrounding this situation emphasizes the need for constructive dialogue and compromise in the realm of governance. As the deadline approaches, the nation waits to see if elected officials can overcome these challenges for the greater good.
I think that it is unfair for Americans to face the consequences of disputes within Congress--federal workers did not do anything to face work without pay. The uncertainty of the situation is adding lots of anxiety and polarization to our current climate. I am wondering how they will resolve this dispute?
I think it's worth highlighting the fact that, as is briefly mentioned in the blog post, this plan only pushes back the deadline, something that could just lead to more shutdown threats in January and February--as another commenter noted, the likelihood of compromise by seems pretty slim, as conflicts over spending continue. On a separate note, it is interesting to see Johnson, someone that comes from a very hard-right background, passing measures that are widely supported by Democrats and opposed by so many Republicans, as his actions are basically what the hard right Republicans criticized McCarthy for doing.
It's concerning to witness the impact of polarization once again hindering the passage of a budget plan in our legislature. The inability to reach a consensus is largely driven by political party biases. Personally, like many Americans, I earnestly hope that every effort will be made to pass a budget and avoid a significant government shutdown. However, the outcome remains uncertain, and only time will reveal whether we can successfully enact an effective budget amid the prevailing polarization.
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