There is hope the US Government shutdown that threatened to spark chaos across the most powerful nation on the planet has been dramatically averted in a last-minute pivot.
On the brink of a federal government shutdown, the House on Saturday swiftly approved 45-day funding bill to keep federal agencies open as Speaker Kevin McCarthy and his Republicans dropped demands for steep spending cuts and relied on Democratic votes for passage to send the package to the Senate. The next steps in the Senate are uncertain.
It passed by 335 votes to 91. House Speaker and Republican Kevin McCarthy had risked his own job by pushing a 45-day funding bill through the House with Democratic help - a moved that has angered his GOP colleagues. The bill is headed to the Senate, now the House has passed it, and Senators are expected to vote and pass it later today.
The House entered into a rare weekend session for a quick vote on the plan. Republican lawmakers met behind closed doors early in the morning with hours to go before the midnight deadline needed to fund government operations or face a disruptive federal closure.
"We're going to do our job," McCarthy said after the morning meeting. "We're going to be adults in the room. And we're going to keep government open."
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The Government shutdown threatened to plunge federal workers into furloughs, force more than two million active-duty and reserve military troops to work without pay - while and programs and services that Americans rely on from coast to coast were facing major shutdown disruptions.
To add to the drama, Democrat Jamal Bowman pulled a fire alarm in a Congress building sparking a huge evacuation amid a crucial shutdown vote. A picture on social media appears to show the moment the politician was caught on camera pulling the fire alarm in the Capitol earlier today. Reporters have speculated that it looks like him. However, it has not been officially verified.
A man who looks like Democrat Jamal Bowman appears to pull the fire alarmThe House Administration Committee, which oversees the Capitol Police, issued a statement on X, formerly Twitter, from Chairman Bryan Steil, R-Wis stating it would investigate the claims. He said: “Rep Jamal Bowman pulled a fire alarm in Cannon this morning. An investigation into why it was pulled is underway.”
According to Mr Bowman's chief of staff, Sarah Iddrissu, he did not mean to pull the trigger. She said on X: "He did not realise he would he would trigger a building alarm as he was rushing to make an urgent vote. The Congressman regrets any confusion." Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene has demanded the prosecution of Jamaal Bowman after unconfirmed reports that he pulled a House Office building fire alarm during a vote.
The sudden House action would fund government at current 2023 levels for 45 days, through Novembver 17. It would move closer to the bipartisan approach underway in the Senate, which also would fund the government through that period, while adding $6 billion for Ukraine to fight the war against Russia and $6 billion for U.S. disaster relief.
The new approach would leave behind aid to Ukraine, a White House priority opposed by a growing number of GOP lawmakers, but the plan would increase federal disaster assistance by $16 billion, meeting President Joe Biden's full request. The House vote was 335-91.
With hours to go for the midnight deadline to fund the government, the Senate was also in for a rare weekend session and prepared to act next. With no deal in place before Sunday, federal workers will face furloughs, more than 2 million active-duty and reserve military troops will work without pay and programs and services that Americans rely on from coast to coast will begin to face shutdown disruptions.
The House measure would fund government at current 2023 levels for 45 days, through Nov. 17, moving closer to the Senate's approach. But the Senate package would have added $6 billion for Ukraine to fight the war against Russia and $6 billion for U.S. disaster relief.
Both chambers came to a standstill as lawmakers assessed their options, some decrying the loss of Ukraine aid. "The American people deserve better," said House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York, warning in a lengthy floor speech that "extreme" Republicans were risking shutdown. McConnell, of Kentucky, said Republican senators were waiting "to see what the House is doing."
For the House package to be approved, McCarthy, R-Calif., will be forced to rely on Democrats because the speaker's hard-right flank has said it will oppose any short-term measure. Republicans hold a 221-212 majority, with two vacancies.
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Relying on Democratic votes and leaving his right-flank behind is something that the hard-right lawmakers have warned will risk McCarthy's job as speaker. They are almost certain to quickly file a motion to try to remove McCarthy from that office, though it is not at all certain there would be enough votes to topple the speaker.
"If somebody wants to remove me because I want to be the adult in the room, go ahead and try," McCarthy said of the threat to oust him. "But I think this country is too important."
The quick pivot comes after the collapse Friday of McCarthy's earlier plan to pass a Republican-only bill with steep spending cuts up to 30% to most government agencies that the White House and Democrats rejected as too extreme.
"Our options are slipping away every minute," said one senior Republican, Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida. The federal government is heading straight into a shutdown that poses grave uncertainty for federal workers in states all across America and the people who depend on them - from troops to border control agents to office workers, scientists and others.
Families that rely on Head Start for children, food benefits and countless other programs large and small are confronting potential interruptions or outright closures. At the airports, Transportation Security Administration officers and air traffic controllers are expected to work without pay, but travelers could face delays in updating their U.S. passports or other travel documents.
An earlier McCarthy plan to keep the government open collapsed Friday due to opposition from a faction of 21 hard-right holdouts despite steep spending cuts of nearly 30% to many agencies and severe border security provisions. The White House has brushed aside McCarthy's overtures to meet with Biden after the speaker walked away from the debt deal they brokered earlier this year that set budget levels.
Catering to his hard-right flank, McCarthy had returned to the spending limits the conservatives demanded back in January as part of the deal-making to help him become the House speaker.
After Friday's vote, McCarthy's chief Republican critic, Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, said the speaker's bill "went down in flames as I've told you all week it would." Some of the Republican holdouts, including Gaetz, are allies of former President Donald Trump, who is Biden's chief rival in the 2024 race. Trump has been encouraging the Republicans to fight hard for their priorities and even to "shut it down."
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