Government Temporarily Avoids Shutdown

In the 11th hour, Congress and Biden pass 45 day reprieve

National disaster was avoided Saturday, September 30 when a short-term spending bill was passed with bipartisan support in the House and Senate. The law moves the deadline for a new spending resolution to November 14, giving the US House 45 days to resolve disagreements between House Democrats, House party-line Republicans, and the House Freedom Caucus. A shutdown would furlough over 43,000 Colorado government workers, close Colorado National Parks, increase flight delays at DIA, and pause benefits for the half a million Coloradans on food stamps.

Brandon Coon, Faculty Adviser • September 30, 2023 • 6 Views

The highly anticipated government shutdown has been avoided… for now. On early Saturday morning, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA 20) met with House Republic leadership and offered a vote on a continuing resolution (known as a CR), a short-term funding bill that will fund the government for 45 more days, moving the deadline for a renewed government spending authorization from October 1 to November 14.

After the CR passed the House 335-91, the Senate also passed the CR with a bipartisan vote of 88-9. Minutes before the midnight deadline, President Joe Biden signed the authorization into law. Frederick’s District 8 House Representative Yaderia Caraveo voted for the resolution, along with fellow Colorado representatives Diana DeGette (D-CO 1), Joe Neguse (D-CO 2), Doug Lamborn R-CO 5), Jason Crow (D-CO 6), and Brittany Petersen (D-CO 7), as well as Colorado Democratic Senators Michael Bennett and John Hickenlooper; Colorado House representatives Lauren Boebert (R-CO 3) and Ken Buck (R-CO 4) voted against the passage of the CR.

The 71-page CR that sailed through both houses of Congress today was considered a win for both parties. Known in Washington circles as a “clean bill,” meaning that the continuous issues that had been holding up the reauthorization of government spending were cut out — for Republicans, this meant giving up a reduction of immigrant visas and deep cuts to next year’s budget; for Democrats, this meant giving up additional aid to Ukraine and a $16 billion increase in disaster relief funds.

The fight over the funding bill has been less about Democrats arguing with Republicans and more about the Republican infighting between traditional party-line Republicans and the Republican members of the Freedom Caucus. The more conservative Freedom Caucus (which includes Colorado’s Boebert and Buck as members) wants a bill that will resume funding for the expansion of the Mexican border wall started by former president Donald Trump, an end to the access to out-of-state abortion services by military members, a cessation of all further aid to Ukraine, and an additional $120 billion ins spending cuts beyond what McCarthy is promoting.

With Republicans only having a five-seat majority, the three dozen members of the Freedom Caucus have the power to tank any legislation they don’t like. This infighting was previously on display during the historic fifteen rounds of voting for Speaker of the House in January, where McCarthy agreed to allow a single member to bring a motion to vacate to the floor at any time to win over the Freedom Caucus. A motion to vacate is essentially a vote to eject McCarthy from his role as Speaker of the House, a vote that McCarthy would lose if the House Democrats and Freedom Caucus united to vote against him.

The shutdown fight is far from over. While all government agencies have their current budget levels extended through mid-November, both Republicans and Democrats in the House will continue fighting for their spending priorities. Another tangential fight is brewing as well: Freedom Party member Matt Gaetz (R-FL 1) told reporters several times over the past week that he would bring forward a motion to vacate against McCarthy if he made any bipartisan agreement with Democrats on a continuing resolution — and now that McCarthy has done just that, he will face losing his speakership if Gaetz carries through with his promise.

About the Contributor

Brandon Coon, Staff Adviser

Mr. Brandon Coon has been the adviser of the Frederick Lantern for the past seven years. In his fourteen years in the classroom (ten of which have been at Frederick High), he has taught subjects as diverse as AP Literature, literacy, drama, tech theatre, world history, yearbook, study skills, and computer science. Mr. Coon also sponsors Frederick's chapter of the Quill and Scroll International Society for High School Journalists and the Frederick Film Society. He has a Bachelor's degree in English from the University of Northern Colorado and is a member of Sigma Tau Delta.