Kevin McCarthy confident there won't be a government shutdown in November
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House Speaker Kevin McCarthy vowed Sunday that the government will again avoid a government shutdown when the recent spending patch runs out in November — and also implied he won’t back a funding bill for Ukraine without first moving to secure the US-Mexico border.
“No, because the House is doing their work. We’ve already done more than 70% of it,” McCarthy, 58, said when asked about the possibility of a future government shutdown during an interview on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”
Congress on Saturday passed a stopgap continuing resolution to avert a shutdown and keep the lights on until Nov. 17, six days before Thanksgiving.
The continuing resolution bought time, but Congress still needs to pass 12 appropriations bills to keep the government running.
So far, the GOP-led House has passed four appropriations bills, which McCarthy said account for around an estimated 70% of spending. The Democrat-led Senate hasn’t passed any.
There has been a big chasm between the House and Senate over top-line numbers.
The Senate has steered closer to the $1.59 trillion discretionary level agreed upon during the debt ceiling flap in May. Meanwhile, the House, at the behest of GOP hardliners, has expressed interest in setting spending lower.
Democrats have been keen on holding Republicans to the agreed upon numbers from the debt ceiling negotiation.
“We’re not going to surrender to the Senate. We pass what the American people want,” McCarthy declared Sunday.
After numerous attempts to pass a continuing resolution with conservative wishlist items like deep cuts and a border security package went up in flames, McCarthy brought up the “clean” bill to fund the government for about 47 days and allocate $16 billion to domestic disaster relief.
Absent from the compromise deal was additional support for Ukraine, but Democratic leadership indicated a separate supplemental package will come up for a vote at some point.
This has roiled GOP holdouts who wanted limited to no funding for the war-torn nation.
“The priority for me is America and our borders. Now I support being able to make sure Ukraine has the weapons that they need. But I firmly support the border first,” McCarthy contended Sunday.
“There’s not going to get some big package if the border is not secure,” he added.
The speaker stressed that he wants key border security policies in the House GOP-passed Secure the Border Act of 2023 such as finishing up the wall and reforming the asylum process.
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), a perennial thorn in McCarthy side, announced plans Sunday to furnish a motion to vacate the chair — or oust the speaker — this week.
Republicans have a threadbare four-seat majority — down one seat due to the resignation for former Rep. Chris Stewart (R-Ut.) — from January when McCarthy struggled to lock down the gavel without a vote to spare.
“Bring it on. Let’s get over with it,” McCarthy said in response. “Gaetz is trying to work with Democrats, he’s reached out to Swalwell, AOC, and others. But if that’s the way we’re going to govern, I don’t think America is going to be successful.”
A motion to vacate and remove McCarthy would need to garner a majority support, which is within the realm of possibility due to expected Democratic votes against him.
Most Republicans in both chambers of Congress have backed McCarthy.
“I think Kevin is the right guy at the right time. The only way he loses his job is if a handful of Republicans join up with the Democratic Party to fire him,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) told “Face the Nation.”
“That would be a disaster for the future of the Republican Party.”
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