With days to go before a Sept. 30 government funding deadline that, if missed, would result in a shutdown of federal agencies and the furloughing of millions of employees, little headway appears to have been made as House Speaker Kevin McCarthy faces a revolt from his majority’s right wing.

Hard-right members of the Republican conference have said they prefer a government shutdown if their policy demands are not met, no matter how likely those policies will be blocked by the Democratic-controlled Senate.

What You Need To Know

  • Little headway appears to have been made ahead of a Sept. 30 government funding deadline as House Speaker Kevin McCarthy faces a revolt from his majority’s right wing

  • A government shutdown would result in the shuttering of federal agencies and the furloughing of millions of employees

  • Pressure is coming from the inside and outside of Congress, with former President Donald Trump joining the calls of far-right rebels like Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida to shut the government down if McCarthy does not make concessions

  • Trump, Gaetz and others want concessions on immigration policies, money for Ukraine’s war effort, federal spending levels and defunding the prosecutors pursuing criminal cases against the 2024 GOP presidential primary frontrunner
  • The plan is for votes to be held beginning on Tuesday on some appropriation bills. However, a short-term funding measure known as a “continuing resolution” would likely be needed to ensure the whole of the federal government has the money it needs to keep functioning past Sept. 30 until a more permanent agreement can be made

“If people want to close the government, it only makes it weaker. Why would they want to stop paying the troops or stop paying the border agents or the Coast Guard? I don't understand how that makes you stronger, I don't understand what point you're trying to make,” McCarthy told reporters on Monday. “Why would you want to stop paying those individuals? I couldn't understand somebody that would want to do that.”

Pressure is coming from the inside and outside of Congress, with former President Donald Trump joining the calls of far-right rebels like Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida to shut the government down if McCarthy does not make concessions on immigration policies, money for Ukraine’s war effort, federal spending levels and defunding the prosecutors pursuing criminal cases against the 2024 GOP presidential primary frontrunner.

“The Republicans lost big on Debt Ceiling, got NOTHING, and now are worried that they will be BLAMED for the Budget Shutdown. Wrong!!! Whoever is President will be blamed, in this case, Crooked (as Hell!) Joe Biden!” Trump wrote on Truth Social, his social media network, on Sunday night. “UNLESS YOU GET EVERYTHING, SHUT IT DOWN! Close the Border, stop the Weaponization of ‘Justice,’ and End Election Interference.”

Lawmakers were off on Monday, for the Jewish holiday on Yom Kippur, but the plan is for votes to be held beginning on Tuesday on some appropriation bills. However, a short-term funding measure known as a “continuing resolution” would likely be needed to ensure the whole of the federal government has the money it needs to keep functioning past Sept. 30 until a more permanent agreement can be made. A vote on the Defense Department budget, a typically unimpeded process, failed last week in a major defeat for McCarthy.

For Gaetz and others, the Tuesday votes — which will reportedly be for the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security, State and Agriculture — are not enough. Specifically, the Florida congressman wants votes on each of the 11 annual spending bills, not one vote on an overarching deal. That process could take weeks as House Republicans would need to sort out their own disputes before reaching an agreement with the Senate. 

“Kevin wants it in one big up or down vote: keep the government open [or] shut it down. I'm saying single-subject spending bills. It's the only way to break the fever and liberate ourselves from this out of control spending,” Gaetz said on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” this weekend.

McCarthy has expressed his desire to pass any funding measures with only Republican support — House Democrats have universally declined to offer their support so far, opposing many of the GOP’s priorities. If he turns to Democrats for support, he could face a vote to end his speakership, as Gaetz and others have threatened.

In January, as part of his deal with hard-right members of his party to secure the speakership after a historic 15 rounds of voting, McCarthy agreed to a House rule that allowed any one member to bring a “motion to vacate,” which would trigger a vote on whether he should be allowed to continue to lead the chamber.

“I'm not worried if someone makes a motion. I'm not worried if somebody votes no. I'm going to wake up each and every day with the same thing that drives my opinion of what needs to be done: solving these problems,” McCarthy said on Monday. “I'm going to work with people who want to get that done.”

Despite Trump’s assertions that Biden and Democrats will be blamed for the shutdown, McCarthy has worked hard to avoid one, arguing on Sunday in an interview with NBC News that “I think we should show that we can govern.”

Gaetz himself placed the blame at McCarthy’s feet and told a Fox News reporter last week that Republicans couldn’t blame anyone besides the Speaker, specifically absolving President Joe Biden, House Democrats or Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.

For their part, the White House and Democrats are eager to make hay of Republicans’ dysfunction and the potential consequences of a shutdown, with Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre saying on Monday that “this is something for them to fix.”

“This is indeed a Republican shutdown. So, they got to get to it. They got to fix it,” she said.

Later in the day at an unrelated event, Biden said “funding the government is one of the most basic, fundamental responsibilities of Congress and if Republicans in the House don’t start doing their job, we should stop electing them.” He later shook his head when asked if he had spoken to McCarthy recently and whether he planned to.

On Monday morning, the Biden administration circulated state-by-state data for the seven million “vulnerable moms and children” that rely on government assistance for food, noting the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) “serves nearly half of babies born in this country.” If the government shuts down, the White House estimates the food assistance would dry up within days.

“During the course of a shutdown, millions of those moms, babies, and young children would see a lack of nutrition assistance,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsak said at the White House press briefing on Monday, estimating that WIC would last “a day or two” and even states with funding reserves would likely run out within a week.

Separately, the Biden campaign responded to Trump’s call for a shutdown on Monday by arguing he was doing so for political gain even though shuttering many agencies “could delay cancer research, force federal law enforcement and troops to work without pay, and kneecap essential services.”

“House Republicans are gleefully letting Donald Trump function as their chief political strategist at the expense of American families,” campaign spokesperson Kevin Munoz said in a statement. “Trump’s behavior is shameful, but unsurprising from someone who has demonstrated he couldn’t care less about the American people.”