The deadline to pass a federal spending bill was October 1st at midnight, and as Americans braced for the impact of another government shutdown, a small group of Republicans in the House of Representatives hindered efforts to prevent a shutdown. While most of the House supported a bill to continue using the previous year’s spending bill until a bipartisan agreement was reached, a small group of conservatives led by Matt Gaetz (R-FL) refused. These members opposed the bill mainly because of the money allotted to helping Ukraine. They informed Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy(R-CA) that they would introduce a motion to remove him from his position if he supported the bipartisan bill, which hindered the Speaker from making any headway on the budget. Ultimately, McCarthy was forced to end negotiations with his party and rely on Democrats to pass the stopgap bill that prevented the government shutdown.
A stopgap bill, also known as a continuing resolution, is a bill that keeps government spending at the previous levels until mid-November. In order to pass this bill before October, Congress had to cut all aid to Ukraine but increased funding for national disaster relief. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) alleges that he will continue pushing for assistance to Ukraine despite the cuts in this bill. After both houses of Congress passed the bill, Biden signed it late Saturday night. With growing Republican dissonance and McCarthy facing removal measures, Congress has until November 17th to create and pass a new budget.
