White House more focused on blaming GOP for shutdown than avoiding one

With a government shutdown looming, the Biden White House is focusing its efforts on tying Republicans to the negative economic fallout rather than breaking the legislative stalemate in the first place.

White House officials are actively engaged with congressional lawmakers ahead of the Sept. 30 deadline and back the bipartisan effort in the Senate to fund the government through normal appropriations channels. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy‘s (R-CA) efforts to pass a standalone Republican-backed continuing resolution failed yet again Thursday after six Republicans, Reps. Dan Bishop (R-NC), Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), Andy Biggs (R-AZ), Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK), Eli Crane (R-AZ), and Matt Rosendale (R-MT) blocked the defense spending bill.

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However, White House officials signaled to the Washington Examiner that President Joe Biden likely would not sign a Republican-only resolution into law, even as the Senate path faces its own obstacles.

While a government shutdown may cause an economic contraction in the short term, it would pale in comparison to what would have resulted from the United States defaulting on its debt this summer. The economy could then rapidly expand once the government reopens, a potential windfall for Biden heading into an election year.

The feeling inside the White House is straightforward: It’s Congress’s job to fund the government.

Coupled with McCarthy’s inability to control his own caucus, the White House believes that blame for an economic downturn stemming from the shutdown will fall squarely on the shoulders of Republicans.

Senior administration officials have publicly argued that the spending levels outlined in the Republican proposals fall far short of the agreed cuts included in the debt ceiling agreement brokered by Biden and McCarthy this past summer.

Meanwhile, the White House has spent recent days firing off memos outlining the downstream costs a government shutdown could have for voters across the country, including in areas championed by conservatives like border security.

On Tuesday, White House officials sent out a fact sheet to interested parties outlined some impacts of the shutdown, including:

• 800 fewer U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents and officers, which the White House estimates would allow 50,000 pounds of cocaine, 300 pounds of fentanyl, 700 pounds of heroin, and 6,000 pounds of methamphetamine to be smuggled into the country.
• 125,000 seniors and children losing access to healthcare and other nutritional services.
• 110,000 children losing slots in the Head Start program.
• 40,000 fewer teachers, affecting an estimated 26 million students.
• 145 fewer local law enforcement officials stemming from Department of Justice cuts.
• 250,000 workers losing job training and employment opportunities.

And on Wednesday, the White House sent a second memo outlining how Republican funding proposals would cut the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP, funding for each state ahead of the winter months. On top of the 8% cuts across the board sought by Republicans, the White House claimed McCarthy’s continuing resolution would cut LIHEAP by $2.52 billion nationwide, good for 60% of the program’s total funding and impacting nearly 5.13 million households.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre repeatedly attacked Republicans during her Thursday press briefing, not only for breaking the debt ceiling agreement but also for failing to wrangle the entire GOP caucus behind a singular proposal.

“Today, extreme House Republicans showed yet again that their chaos is marching us toward a reckless and damaging government shutdown. Extreme House Republicans can’t even get an agreement among themselves to keep the government running or to fund the military,” she opened the briefing, referencing the six Republicans who blocked McCarthy’s resolution from advancing earlier that morning.

“They keep demanding more extreme policies as a condition to do their job and keep the government open, from a fact-free impeachment that their own members say isn’t supported by the evidence to severe cuts to food safety, Meals on Wheels, Head Start, education, law enforcement and much more,” Jean-Pierre continued. “And they’re failing to deliver needed funding for communities recovering from disasters, to countering fentanyl trafficking, for food assistance for pregnant mothers and babies, and to support Ukraine.”

“Extreme House Republicans need to stop playing political games with people’s lives. There’s so much at stake here. They should abide by the bipartisan deal we made in May, which two thirds — two thirds of House Republicans voted for. A deal is a deal,” she concluded. “House Republicans need to do their job, keep the government open, and work with us to deliver for the American people.”

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Though Jean-Pierre publicly hounded Republicans to “do their job” and fund the government, she also signaled Thursday that the administration is actively preparing to operate in a shutdown.

“Certainly, agencies are looking at how to move forward in case there is a shutdown, but I will say this: I mean, very plainly, the best plan is to not have one, is to not have a shutdown,” she said in response to a question from the Associated Press. “House Republicans know exactly what they need to do, which is do their jobs.”