With the deadline fast approaching, the Senate has released a bipartisan stopgap bill in an attempt to avoid a government shutdown. However, there is uncertainty about whether it will be able to pass in the House. The House, where the Republican majority is divided and hardline conservatives have significant influence, is on a collision course with the Senate. The House has advanced a package of appropriations bill that are unlikely to pass in the Senate, and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy dismissed the Senate’s stopgap measure. McCarthy plans to amend the bill to include a House GOP border security package, further exacerbating differences with the Senate.
If the Senate’s stopgap measure passes, it will still need to be sent to the House for approval. One senator can slow down the passage, and time is running out. McCarthy has been trying to pass a series of spending bills in the hopes of swaying enough holdouts to support a Republican stopgap bill. He also warned that a government shutdown is the worst possible option and highlighted the damaging impacts it would have, including the unpaid military members and the furlough of Defense Department employees. The White House also stressed the negative consequences of a shutdown on national security.
