The speaker made a last-minute reversal to avert a government shutdown. It could cost him his job.
Updated at 9:02 p.m. ET on September 30, 2023
Legislative Speaker Kevin McCarthy faced a difficult decision in recent weeks as he negotiated spending bills with hard-line members of his party. He had to choose between keeping the government open and keeping his job. McCarthy’s actions seemed to indicate a preference for the latter option. He continuously yielded to the demands of far-right Republicans to deepen spending cuts and resist Democrats, almost guaranteeing a government shutdown by the midnight deadline tonight.
However, with only a few hours remaining, the speaker suddenly changed his course. He defied the conservative members who had been tormenting him and joined forces with Democrats to avoid a shutdown. The House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved a temporary extension of federal funding this afternoon. The Senate passed the bill in the evening, postponing a shutdown for at least 45 days and giving both parties more time to negotiate spending for the next fiscal year.
The question now is whether McCarthy’s pivot will mark the end of his nine-month tenure as speaker. By caving temporarily on the shutdown battle, he is essentially challenging Representative Matt Gaetz of Florida and other hard-line Republicans to follow through on their threats to remove him. “If someone wants to remove me because I want to be the reasonable one, go ahead and try,” McCarthy told reporters before the vote. “But I believe this country is too important.”
The short-term bill includes disaster relief funds sought by both parties, but McCarthy refused to include the $6 billion in Ukraine aid that the Biden administration and a bipartisan majority of senators wanted. The Senate had been on the verge of passing its own extension that included the Ukraine funding, but after the House vote, they are expected to accept McCarthy’s proposal instead. It is unclear if House Republicans will agree to include Ukraine assistance in the next major spending bill, but Democrats and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell are likely to make a strong push for it.
McCarthy’s unexpected reversal triggered a chaotic few hours in the Capitol. Democrats were taken by surprise and needed time to examine the new bill, unsure if Republicans were trying to sneak conservative policy priorities into the legislation without anyone noticing. Ultimately, only one Democrat voted against it. Representative Jamaal Bowman of New York, a second-term Democrat, caused an entire House office building to be evacuated when he pulled a fire alarm moments before the vote. Republicans claimed it was a deliberate—and potentially criminal—attempt to delay the proceedings. (Bowman’s chief of staff stated that the representative “did not realize he would set off a building alarm as he rushed to cast an urgent vote. The Congressman regrets any confusion.”)
On the right, criticism of McCarthy was immediate and expected. “Should he remain Speaker of the House?” tweeted one of his Republican opponents, Representative Andy Biggs of Arizona, seemingly rhetorically. However, more moderate Republicans had long been waiting for the speaker’s decision. McCarthy’s months of appeasing the right had frustrated House Republicans who were more pragmatic and politically vulnerable, with a few threatening to join Democratic efforts to prevent or end a shutdown. But many Republicans are even angrier at Gaetz and his allies. “Why live in fear of these guys? If they want to fight, let them fight,” said former Representative Charlie Dent of Pennsylvania, a moderate who served with McCarthy in the House for 12 years. “I don’t understand why you would appease people who are only trying to harm and humiliate you.”
This morning, the speaker finally came to the same conclusion. His decision to relent on a shutdown merely postpones the stalemate over federal spending. Now it’s up to House Republicans to decide if McCarthy will stay around to resolve it.
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