REUTERS: The U.S. federal government is on the brink of a partial shutdown, with just two days left as a group of hardline House Republicans refuses to support a bipartisan stopgap spending bill aimed at providing more time for lawmakers to negotiate a full-year funding deal.
If Congress does not pass a spending package that President Joe Biden can sign into law by 12:01 a.m. ET on Sunday (0401 GMT), the National Park Service will close, the Securities and Exchange Commission will suspend most of its regulatory activities, and hundreds of thousands of federal workers will face furloughs.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy managed to pass three out of four bills late Thursday to fund four federal agencies, designed to accommodate conservative demands. However, these bills stand no chance of passing the Democratic-controlled Senate and would not avert a partial shutdown because they do not fund the entire government.
Republican hardliners have refused to consider a Senate bill that would fund the government through Nov. 17, even though it has broad bipartisan support, including from top Senate Republican Mitch McConnell.
This potential shutdown would mark the fourth in a decade and comes just four months after a similar standoff nearly led to the federal government defaulting on its $31 trillion-plus debt. Such repeated brinkmanship has raised concerns on Wall Street, with ratings agency Moody’s warning it could harm the nation’s creditworthiness.
The current disagreement primarily centers on a relatively small portion of the $6.4 trillion U.S. budget for the fiscal year. Lawmakers are not contemplating cuts to popular benefit programs like Social Security and Medicare.
Several hardline Republicans have threatened to remove McCarthy from his leadership position if he passes a spending bill that requires Democratic votes to pass, which is almost inevitable given that any successful House bill must also pass the Democratic-controlled Senate.
Former President Donald Trump, who is likely to be Biden’s opponent in the 2024 election, has used social media to encourage his congressional allies toward a government shutdown.