Once again, the United States is approaching the abyss. There are only three days left for legislators to reach an agreement before midnight on Saturday to avoid the partial administrative closure of the government and everything points to the worst.
“Financing the government is one of the most basic responsibilities of Congress, said President Joe Biden. And he added that if they don't do their job, they can't continue in their position.
At this time, as the positions between the two parties are at odds and, what is even worse within, given the civil conflict of the Republicans, Biden's lament is nothing more than a toast to the sun. A way to cover your back although, whatever you say, Donald Trump and conservatives in general will blame you.
The route to the agreement is more than confusing, strewn with obstacles, an impossible mission that not even Tom Cruise's best editing would solve.
But the legislators, even those who put all possible spokes in the wheels, will continue in office and get paid. Their payroll is going the other way compared to the hundreds of thousands of federal employees who will see their salaries suspended. This affects a wide variety of services. It will leave the military without pay. It will cause the closure of federal parks, with consequent damage to the coffers of the states that bring in good money. It will cause problems in aircraft traffic, especially due to the possible impact on air traffic controllers. Millions of mothers and children will be left without assistance programs that provide them with food. Those who perform “critical or essential” services must go to work, although not 100% of the workforce and without pay, while waiting for the conflict to be resolved.
The solution gets further and further away as the limit approaches. Senators from both parties reached a temporary agreement on Tuesday night, which overcame the first procedural obstacle by 77 to 19.
Pending the final vote, this project would maintain financing until November 17 in order to achieve more time in the negotiation to replenish the administration's coffers for one year. This plan includes 6 billion to help Ukraine in its defense against the Russian invasion and another amount for disaster relief due to the proliferation of fires and floods in numerous areas of the United States.
The White House issued a congratulatory statement for the inclusion of these two items. “Republicans in the Lower House must join the Senate, do their job, stop playing political games with people's lives,” he reiterated.
That this project reaches the president's table was annihilated this Wednesday after the words of Kevin McCarthy, president or speaker of the Lower House, the Republican who holds the third position in the country. There is a unanimous sense in both parties that he is the villain.
The spectacle he is offering is that of a man without character and a weak politician. His dream of being the speaker has turned into a nightmare. A small group of ultraconservatives has him in their hands as if he were a puppet.
In a closed-door meeting, McCarthy informed his supporters that he will not even open the possibility of the Senate's provisional bill going to a vote. If he does so, and given the narrow margin of the conservative majority, he would risk having Democratic and moderate Republican votes give their support to that legislation.
That would solve the serious problem of the government closure, it would provide relief to millions of people, but the anger of the ultras would cause them to propose a motion to take away the commanding gavel in the Lower House. They have already made it very clear.
“Not putting it to a vote is the right thing to do,” McCarthy said. He promised that this Friday he plans to bring a conservative proposal to the floor, which highlights increased spending to reinforce the border, with no allocation for Kyiv. And he put the ball in Biden's court. “If you want open government, close the border,” he proclaimed.
McCarthy looks ridiculous. At the meeting he pleaded for the support of the ultras. Only if he loses four votes he is defeated, but there are at least eight who oppose his proposal.
“The choice facing Congress is pretty simple,” replied Mitch McConnell, leader of the Republican minority in the Senate. “We can take the standard approach,” he added, “and fund the administration for six weeks at the current pace or we can shut down the government in exchange for zero policy progress.”
