Congress stares down government shutdown as lawmakers fail to advance spending bills

The federal government is set to shut down just after midnight on Oct. 1, and lawmakers aren’t anywhere closer to renewing its funding for the next fiscal year, making a shutdown this weekend all the more likely.

The House on Friday shot down a GOP-led stopgap measure to fund the government temporarily, leaving the lower chamber at a standstill while they consider options to keep the lights on in Washington. Meanwhile, the Senate is working to advance a bipartisan continuing resolution that would give Congress 45 extra days to hammer out a deal, although Republicans in the House have rejected that proposal as being “dead on arrival.”

GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN: IF WASHINGTON CLOSES, IT COULD COST THE GOP IN VIRGINIA

Lawmakers have less than 30 hours to pass some sort of government funding bill to avert a shutdown. Otherwise, several federal agencies will halt operations, and millions of government employees will go without pay until further notice.

Here’s where things stand as the government stares down the looming government shutdown deadline:

House eyes possible ‘clean’ continuing resolution

Some members believe that leadership will try to put pressure on the Senate by bringing a clean continuing resolution to the floor, meaning a temporary spending bill that maintains current fiscal spending levels without any added amendments or provisions. One senior GOP member told the Washington Examiner that a clean continuing resolution brought up on Saturday is “the most likely option.”

Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) also hinted at a possible clean continuing resolution being brought to the floor after a meeting with members of his conference on Friday.

“I think if we had a clean [CR] without Ukraine on it, we could probably be able to move that through,” McCarthy said. “I think if the Senate puts Ukraine on there and focuses Ukraine over America, I think that could cause real problems.”

This sentiment was also relayed by a GOP senator who said the best option for McCarthy could be to put a clean continuing resolution on the floor Saturday, send it to the Senate, and put pressure on Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY).

“If Kevin can get a clean CR and bring it over here and Schumer doesn’t pick it up, whose shutdown is it? It’s the Schumer shutdown,” the senator said.

Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC) said there are several options right now, but much relies on what happens in the Senate during tomorrow’s cloture vote for their stopgap measure, but a clean continuing resolution is one of the options.

“That’s the best option if we can pass something before the Senate does,” McHenry said. “I think there’s an interest in pursuing those options.”

A clean continuing resolution for 14 days would likely win over some of the 21 holdouts who voted against the most recent stopgap measure.

House considers other next steps, but the path forward is unclear

After a group of 21 Republican lawmakers sank GOP leadership’s CR proposal on Friday, GOP members met for a conference meeting later that evening to discuss next steps.

However, members emerged from the closed-door meeting unsure of what the path forward would be for a temporary spending deal as the GOP conference has not yet been able to come to a consensus. As of now, lawmakers said three options sit on the table: pass the clean CR, pass a bipartisan spending bill, or House Republicans come up with a new plan, according to Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY).

“There’s not many options left,” she said.

Lawmakers floated several different options for a possible CR, with some expressing support for a shorter stopgap measure, such as 14 days or possibly even one week with the possibility of reauthorization. The benefit of doing that would allow lawmakers to set “goals on a specific timeline and you just keep moving forward,” according to Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN).

“If you said seven days, that’s a much shorter runway to get your goal accomplished,” he said.

Several members expressed support for some sort of bipartisan deal, indicating it may be the only way to avoid a shutdown. Others, however, said a shutdown is inevitable at this point.

“I think it’s pretty safe to say that tomorrow at midnight, the lights are going to go out,” said Rep. Steve Womack (R-AR). “I have not seen a path out of this real hole that we’re in right now.”

House lawmakers are expected to meet again for votes on Saturday, although it remains unclear what legislation would be put on the table for consideration. It’s also unclear when members of the Rules Committee will reconvene to advance any piece of legislation.

“I have not received instructions to reconvene Rules,” said Committee Chairman Tom Cole (R-OK).

But, he added, the committee is “always ready to meet at an hour’s notice.”

House lawmakers are expected to stay in Washington until a deal is reached, with House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) telling Republicans in a closed-door conference meeting that the October recess has been canceled, a source confirmed to the Washington Examiner. 

GOP leaders scramble after conservatives shoot down temporary spending deal

Lawmakers voted 198-232, shooting down the measure that extended government funding for 31 days and slashed government spending to $1.471 trillion. The failure dealt a major blow to GOP leadership, especially after McCarthy spent weeks trying to appease the demands of those to his right flank to secure their support.

Twenty-one Republicans voted against the measure, including Reps. Ogles, Andy Biggs (R-AZ), Dan Bishop (R-NC), Lauren Boebert (R-CO), Ken Buck (R-CO), Tim Burchett (R-TN), Eric Burlison (R-MO), Michael Cloud (R-TX), Eli Crane (R-AZ), Matt Gaetz (R-FL), Paul Gosar (R-AZ), Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), Wesley Hunt (R-TX), Nancy Mace (R-SC), Mary Miller (R-IL), Cory Mills (R-FL), Alex Mooney (R-MD), Barry Moore (R-AL), Troy Nehls (R-TX), Matt Rosendale (R-TN), and Keith Self (R-TX).

J. Scott Applewhite/AP

In a surprise to leadership, several of those same lawmakers voted to advance the rule for the bill earlier in the day, which allowed them to begin debate and move toward final passage. However, several hard-line conservatives said they remained unconvinced on the legislation itself.

The vote against the continuing resolution aggravated some members who claim that a few are holding up conservative priorities from passing solely because they’re against a continuing resolution.

“It’s just frustrating that 21 people who claim to be conservatives would side with the socialist squad and the Democrats to tank a plan that was very conservative,” Malliotakis said.

Senate advances its own continuing resolution

The Senate voted on Thursday on a procedural motion to advance its own version of a continuing resolution, which was proposed by a bipartisan group of lawmakers over the weekend. Senate leaders are hoping to vote on the legislation Saturday afternoon, which wouldn’t avert a government shutdown but would give House lawmakers a chance to vote on the bill early next week to renew funding temporarily.

The CR would fund the government at current fiscal levels and provide $6 billion in aid to Ukraine between funding between the Defense Department and the State Department. There is also nearly $6 billion in disaster relief.

A group of mostly Republican senators and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) is working on an amendment that would deliver billions in border security funding in an effort to appease House Republicans. They are working to deliver $6 billion in border funding, the same amount proposed for disaster aid and Ukraine defense. It’s unclear if these changes would be enough to get House Republicans on board.

However, McCarthy has indicated he wouldn’t bring the resolution to the House floor for a vote, making it unclear whether it’s dead on arrival in the lower chamber.

Democrats urge Republicans to sign on to bipartisan CR

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) said he has had conversations with McCarthy over the last several days, telling the Republican leader that a continuing resolution is the “only way forward” to avert a government shutdown before federal funding is set to lapse on Oct. 1.

Jeffries said House Democrats are “prepared” to work with Republicans on any bipartisan measure, noting that all options are on the table.

Some lawmakers, such as Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), said the failed vote should signal to GOP leadership they must advance a bipartisan agreement in order to avert or end a government shutdown, noting a handful of Republicans are considering working with Democrats in order to do so.

“At the end of the day, we have got to get to 218 in the Congress, not necessarily the [GOP] conference but the Congress,” he said. “We have a number of us — hopefully we get some more — that are willing to discharge or take another option to ultimately get something that’s a two-party solution to the floor.”

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However, the Democratic leader said he wouldn’t “hold his breath” to wait for centrist Republicans to sign on to a discharge petition, arguing the only way out is a bipartisan continuing resolution.

“The only path forward is to partner with House Democrats in a bipartisan way,” Jeffries said. “And we’re prepared to do just that.”