November 10, 2023 10:58 AM UTC
10 Comments- by: Colorado Pols
The federal government will shut down one week from today as the clock ticks down on the Continuing Resolution (CR) that was the last legislative act of since-deposed House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. New House Speaker Mike “No T” Johnson (seen here making what will likely become a permanent meme face) has been trying to keep his promise to House Republicans to hold votes on individual appropriations bills rather than discussing another CR, but Johnson has proved to be just as inept as his predecessors at wrangling votes.
As NPR explains:
Two times this week, Johnson, R-La., was forced to pull federal budget bills from the floor after it became clear that Republican opposition meant they would fail to pass.
Now, there are just seven days left before the federal government is due to shutdown at the end of the day on November 17, not enough time to pass the full suite of annual budget bills.
Despite the time crunch, Speaker Johnson has not announced the details of his plan for a stopgap funding measure, which would temporarily extend government funding in order to allow lawmakers to sort out their disagreements on the full budget. [Pols emphasis]
As Dana Milbank writes for The Washington Post, Johnson appears to have absolutely no control over the clowns in his caucus:
Before Mike Johnson became speaker, the House of Representatives had voted to censure one of its own members only seven times in 100 years. Since Johnson became speaker, members of the House have tried to censure each other eight times in two weeks…
…It’s not just the speaker’s inability to curb the proliferation of censure resolutions, which have turned the chamber into a seething den of recriminations. In just seven days, the federal government will shut down after a temporary extension in funding (which cost Kevin McCarthy the speakership) expires. And Johnson (R-La.) has been fumbling in the dark.
He squandered this week without passing, or even floating, a plan to avoid a shutdown. His plan — whatever it is — will come to the floor just days before the lights go out. Even fellow Republicans don’t have a clue what will be in Johnson’s plan, but signs point to a labyrinthine, “laddered” temporary funding patch that baffles his colleagues and has been panned by both Democrats and Senate Republicans. [Pols emphasis]
“I’m not going to tell you when we’ll bring it to the floor, but it will be in time,” Johnson said during a news conference this week. “How about that? Trust us. We’re working through the process in a way that I think the people will be proud of.”
Sure, lets just “trust” “MAGA Mike” Johnson because he has a demonstrated record of…um…well…
Just trust him!
If you’re having trouble with this “trust” thing, you are not alone. In just a few short weeks, Speaker Johnson has painted himself into the same corner as his Republican predecessors. Far-right Republicans — particularly the MAGA freaks and “Freedom Caucus” members — always demand individual appropriations bills rather than a continuing resolution, and then they always prove that they are completely incapable of agreeing on anything. Rinse, repeat. Over and over and over again.
Democratic Rep. Sean Casten of Illinois posted a long but very helpful thread today that explains in great detail how and why House Republicans can’t govern, including a rundown of what House Republicans are doing while the government funding clock ticks down:
TL;DR: House Republicans aren’t doing anything remotely useful that could stave off a government shutdown.
This is not going to be a huge political problem for Colorado Republican Reps. Ken Buck and Doug Lamborn (Buck isn’t seeking re-election and Lamborn is just Lamborn), but this is incredibly dangerous territory for embattled Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-ifle).
Knowing that her political career is hanging by an increasingly-thin thread, Boebert has been trying to convince her constituents in the third congressional district that she is focused on governing and not just political theater (or any other theater, for that matter). If the government shuts down and thousands of her constituents are stuck without paychecks or other critical government benefits, Boebert won’t have much recourse for deflecting blame — particularly given that she has so closely tied herself to Speaker Johnson.
It is in nobody’s interest for the federal government to shut down at the end of the day on Friday, Nov. 17. Alas, House Republicans keep proving that they are more than willing to light themselves — and the country — on fire for no particular reason. If there is more to Speaker Johnson than we have seen thus far, now is the time for him to demonstrate as much.