With five days left until the U.S. government's budget deadline, Congress is entering crisis mode as House Speaker Kevin McCarthy faces an insurgency from far-right Republicans eager to cut spending, even if it means cutting federal services for millions of Americans. .
There is no clear path forward as members of Congress return to an atmosphere of high tension and limited options. The House of Representatives is expected to vote Tuesday night on a package of bills to fund parts of the government, but it's not at all clear whether McCarthy has the necessary support to move forward.
Meanwhile, the Senate, trying to avert a shutdown, prepared its own bipartisan plan for a stopgap measure to at least temporarily keep funding for government services past the Saturday deadline. But plans for more aid to Ukraine have been called into question as a number of House and Senate Republicans oppose spending more money on the war effort.
US President Joe Biden has warned the most conservative Republicans to abandon their hardline tactics, saying that funding the federal government is "one of the most fundamental responsibilities of Congress".
Biden asked House Republicans not to deviate from the debt deal he struck earlier this year with McCarthy, which set funding levels for the federal government and was signed after approval by both the House and Senate.
"We agreed, shook hands and said that this is what we will do. Now they're reneging on the deal," Biden said late Monday.
"If House Republicans don't start doing their jobs, we should stop electing them."
A shutdown would disrupt the U.S. economy and the lives of millions of people who work for the government or rely on federal services — from air traffic controllers who would be required to work without pay to the seven million people in the Mother and Child Program, including half of the babies born in the U.S. which could lose access to food, according to the White House.
Everything is happening in the shadow of preparations for the 2024 presidential election, as Donald Trump, the leading Republican candidate, is urging Republicans in Congress to "shut down the government" and undo the deal McCarthy made with Biden.
Republicans are also being encouraged by former Trump officials, including those who are preparing to shrink the government and the number of federal employees if the former president wins next year's election. With five days left until Saturday's deadline, the turmoil continues as House Republicans hold their first impeachment hearing this week, examining the business operations of his son Hunter.
"Unless you get it all, shut her down!" Trump wrote in all caps on social media. "It's time for Republicans to learn how to fight back!"
McCarthy arrived at the Capitol on Monday after a tumultuous week in which a handful of hard-line Republicans "sunk" his latest plans to pass a usually popular defense funding bill.
After the House Rules Committee met Saturday to prepare for this week's vote, McCarthy hoped the latest plan on a package of four bills to fund defense, homeland security, agriculture and state and foreign operations would jump-start the process.
"Let's get this going," McCarthy said. "Let's make sure the government stays open while we finish our job of passing all the individual bills."
But at least one key Trump ally, Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Green, who is also close to McCarthy, said she would vote against it because the package still provides at least $300 million for the war in Ukraine.
Other hard-right conservatives and Trump allies could follow her lead.
"Now you have a few new people thinking about voting against it," said Ken Buck, Republican of Colorado, referring to the upcoming procedural vote.
A one-time supporter of gridlock himself, Buck told reporters at the Capitol that he would vote for the package, but he wasn't sure McCarthy would have enough support to pass it. "I don't know if they will take them back to their camp," Buck said.
Although not numerous, the right-wing Republican faction wields enormous influence because the majority in the House of Representatives is narrow and McCarthy needs almost every vote from his side for legislation to avoid having to seek Democratic support.
McCarthy has granted hard-line Republicans many of their demands, but it still hasn't been enough because they're asking for more. Among those demands is cutting funding to Ukraine, which President Volodymyr Zelensky told Washington last week was vital to winning the war against Russia.
Conservative Republicans want McCarthy to renege on the deal he made with Biden and stick to earlier spending cuts he made to them in January to win their votes for the presidency.
Republican congressman Matt Gaetz of Florida, a key Trump ally who leads the right wing, told Fox that the shutdown was not optimal but "better than continuing down the current path of financial ruin for America."
Goetz, who has also threatened to call a vote to remove McCarthy, wants Congress to do what has rarely happened in recent history: individually debate and approve each of the 12 bills needed to fund various government departments — a process that usually takes weeks. , if not months.
"I'm not in favor of shutting down," he said. But he said he wanted McCarthy to "keep his word."
Even if the House of Representatives is able to finish work on some of those bills this week, which is highly uncertain, they would still have to be joined with similar bills from the Senate, another lengthy process.
Meanwhile, senators were hammering out a temporary measure, called a continuing resolution, or CR, to keep the government funded, but ran into trouble trying to address Biden's request for additional funding for Ukraine. They face resistance from a handful of Republicans to the war effort.
An AP Senate source said talks would continue through the night. A spokesman for the White House Office of Management and Budget said the administration will continue to work with members of both parties in Congress to secure additional funding and ensure that efforts to support Ukraine continue along with other key priorities such as disaster relief.
Bonus video:
