What to know about the looming government shutdown

Last Thursday, as I sat in the U.S. House of Representatives’ speakers lobby waiting to discuss Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky‘s visit with two California lawmakers, I heard a commotion on the House floor.

That morning had been taken up by Zelensky’s visit to Congress, but now, House lawmakers were narrowly focused on advancing a bill to fund the military. After I heard the noise, and two lawmakers rushed past me to get to the floor, I looked through the glass on the wood doors and saw that the vote was tied, 212 to 212. Democrats, it seemed, were making noise as the time allotted for the vote expired.

As I sat on a bench in the lobby, hoping the two California representatives would appear, a member of the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus sauntered out from the floor to chat with a reporter next to me. The Republican lawmaker shared with us that leadership was trying to convince Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene to break the tie and advance the measure. In the end, she, and the other five conservatives, refused to budge, joining Democrats in opposing the rule. (Democrats cheered when the vote failed, as it was yet another embarrassment for House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and his party.)

Greene cited the $300 million in aid earmarked for the war in Ukraine as a reason for her opposition. After the vote, McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) vowed to strip the Ukraine funding from the measure and bring it to the floor in a separate bill in the hope he would win over Greene,

Defense spending bills were once bipartisan and could, usually, glide onto the president’s desk, no matter which party had the majority. But the House’s failure to send the latest such measure to the Senate demonstrates the dysfunction McCarthy must navigate to not only avert a government shutdown on Sunday, but also keep his job as speaker.

Hello, friends. I’m Erin B. Logan, a reporter covering Congress for the L.A. Times. Today, we are going to discuss spending, politics and what the government shutdown means for you.

Deadline approaching

Congress must send President Biden spending bills by midnight on Sunday to keep the government open. A shutdown would risk destabilizing the American economy, which is already grappling with inflation.

The shutdown would lead to thousands of federal workers being furloughed. Essential services — including the military, Postal Service, Medicaid and Social Security — would not stop operating. The federal judiciary can operate for at least two weeks after a shutdown.

How does McCarthy avoid a shutdown? He has a few options.

McCarthy has reportedly already agreed to appease conservatives and accept steep cuts to social programs, including food stamp programs and housing subsidies, though, any bill with those cuts is unlikely to pass the Democrat-controlled Senate.

He could send the Senate a clean bipartisan spending bill that Democrats could support. But he risks angering staunch conservatives who recently threatened to oust him from the speakership if their demands were not met.

Some lawmakers say the easiest solution to avoid a government shutdown is to pass a stopgap bill, a short extension that would give lawmakers more time to negotiate behind the scenes.

Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) shared the text for a short-term measure, which would reportedly extend the deadline to Nov. 17 and include Ukraine funding. The Ukraine portion could complicate this bill’s passage as sending the war-torn nation more funding is becoming increasingly unpopular on the right. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Tuesday that he would back the stopgap bill, indicating the bill is likely to overcome the filibuster and get a floor vote.

The likelihood of the Senate’s measure passing the House, however, is unclear.

On Monday, Biden noted that he and McCarthy cut a deal earlier this year to fund the government when they agreed to suspend the debt ceiling. “We made a deal, we shook hands, and said this is what we’re going to do,” Biden said Monday. “Now, they’re reneging on the deal.”

On Tuesday, McCarthy made a plea to Biden to get more involved on Capitol Hill, telling reporters it would be “very important” if they met about the shutdown and the border.

“Listen, the president, all he has to do … it’s only actions that he has to take. He can do it like that. He changed all the policies on the border,” he said, according to NBC News. “He can change those. We can keep government open and finish out the work that we have done.”

The latest from the campaign trail

—The State Department is on a mission to sell the Biden administration’s foreign policy as a local issue in Los Angeles and other cities across the country — just in time for the 2024 election, Times writer Tracy Wilkinson reported. They are trying to promote one of Biden and Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken’s campaign-era pledges: to make sure foreign policy is relevant to, and supported by, ordinary Americans.

—The second Republican presidential debate will be broadcast Wednesday on Fox Business Network and Univision, but the exclusive online livestream will take place on Rumble, an alternative video-sharing platform that has been criticized for allowing — and at times promoting — far-right extremism, bigotry, election disinformation and conspiracy theories, the Associated Press reported. By bringing viewers to Rumble to watch the second GOP debate, the Republican National Committee is driving potential voters to a site crawling with content that flouts the rules of more mainstream platforms.

—The United Farm Workers union is endorsing Joe Biden for reelection in next year’s presidential race, declaring that another Biden presidency would be a win for labor rights and the “daily lives of farmworkers across America,” Times writer Alejandra Molina reported.

—At long last, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will get a showdown on a public stage, Times writer Taryn Luna reported. Fox News announced on Monday that Sean Hannity will moderate a 90-minute debate between the two bitter rivals on Nov. 30 in Georgia and air on his show.

The view from Washington

—The Supreme Court for a second time has ruled against Alabama’s Republican leaders and held that the Voting Rights Act requires a second congressional district with a near majority of Black voters, Times writer David G. Savage reported. The decision clears the way for a new statewide congressional map to be drawn by independent experts and the likely outcome is that next year, Alabama could elect a second Black Democrat to the House.

—Hunter Biden sued Rudolph W. Giuliani and another attorney Tuesday, saying the two wrongly accessed and shared his personal data after obtaining it from the owner of a Delaware computer repair shop, the Associated Press reported.

—College presidents and admission experts are expecting a significant increase in applications at historically Black colleges and universities following the summer’s Supreme Court decision outlawing race-based affirmative action policies, Times writer Kwasi Gyamfi Asiedu reported. At a time of heightened social divisions with race relations at the forefront, school administrators say the conservative majority court’s ruling opens a door for HBCUs to fill a gap for students and their families seeking an educational experience in which Black identity and culture are celebrated.

The view from California

—School districts that seek to ban textbooks that portray LGBTQ+ people and other historically marginalized groups could face hefty fines under a new California law signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, Times writer Mackenzie Mays reported. The legislation is the culmination of the Democratic governor’s fight against a majority-conservative school board in the Riverside County city of Temecula, which opposed materials in the summer because of their portrayal of gay rights icon and slain San Francisco politician Harvey Milk.

—Newsom signed a bill Monday that will increase penalties for those convicted of child sex trafficking, a seemingly straightforward measure that instead divided Democrats over how to handle crimes that disproportionately affect women and children, Times writer Hannah Wiley reported. Senate Bill 14 will reclassify sex trafficking of minors as a “serious” felony, potentially resulting in a life sentence under the state’s “three strikes” law, which also applies to crimes such as murder and rape.

—Newsom signed several gun-control measures on Tuesday, including a bill that tightens the state’s concealed-carry rules and another that imposes a new tax on firearm and ammunition sales, Times writer Hannah Wiley reported.

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