Washington: A US government “Shutdown Showdown” seems imminent as hardliner GoP members have not shown an inclination to support the last ditch ‘New Deal’ from House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s short-term stopgap measures to prevent government closure in two weeks.
As the Democrats and Republicans wrestle over their demands for spending cuts and the house is headed towards a potential “shutdown” in less than two weeks, McCarthy has upended two key factions of House Republicans who have crafted a short-term, stopgap measure called a continuing resolution that would temporarily fund the government through October 31, USA Today reported.
The Bill, sponsored by members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus and the more moderate Main Street Caucus, seeks to impose an 8 per cent spending cut on federal agencies as a compromise formula for democrats to endorse, which excludes national defence budget, the Department of Veterans Affairs and amounts designated for disaster relief, media reports said.
The “Stopgap Continuing Resolution”, however, includes border security provisions that have been on the conservative wish lists for a long time as the Republicans engaged the Democrats in a spending fight that could jeopardise much of President Joe Biden’s social welfare schemes on education, green technologies and lowering costs of health care, that has gone down well with the democrats voting base.
The big and quick question is whether the resolution can pass in the House and the Senate.
The Bill also does not include provisions on Ukraine aid or extra funds for disaster relief, which President Joe Biden requested Congress to approve.
Biden has asked Congress to approve a total of $24 billion for Ukraine in terms of military assistance and humanitarian aid that includes a fresh $8.5 billion funding.
Ukraine President Volodomyr Zelensky had publicly thanked the Biden government for its assistance saying “I am in gratitude” but the “War has devastated us”.
He is now in New York to attend the annual general assembly of the UN to lay out his country’s suffering due to the Russian invasion seeking an end to the war.
Representatives from both parties have looked to block the potential compromise.
“It’s crystal clear a government shutdown is coming. I represent 66 per cent of the Texas-Mexico border — a hollow Continuing Resolution built to win a messaging battle does nothing to keep America safe,” Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, wrote on X.
(IANS)
