Last updated on September 25th, 2023 at 02:45 pm
House Republicans have canceled a vote on stopgap bill to fund the government and have called an emergence meeting tomorrow as the deadline to prevent a government shutdown inches closer.
President Obama requested that authorization to arm the rebels in Syria be added to the CR, and Republicans freaked out. House Majority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) said, “Given the severity of the situation and the need for all members to properly evaluate the president’s request, the House will postpone consideration of the continuing resolution which was originally scheduled tomorrow.
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House Republicans have scheduled an emergency meeting to discuss their response to President Obama’s speech on ISIS tonight. However, House Republicans are already grumbling about the short-term CR, “However, with conservatives already voicing opposition to a number of components in the continuing resolution — namely that the funding goes until Dec. 11, and that the Export-Import Bank is funded until June 30 — the votes could also be looking tight. Republicans are expected to whip check the CR during Wednesday afternoon votes, so they will have a better sense of the vote count then. But a vote delay could still be in the cards if members want to add provisions regarding ISIL.”
What triggered the Republican meltdown was the fact that President Obama asked for congressional authorization to arm the rebels in Syria. Republicans are repeating their usual cycle of not doing anything the easy way. The tea partiers who are upset about the CR can now use the Obama request to arm the Syrian rebels to reject the continuing resolution.
The mainstream media has been suggesting for weeks that avoiding a government shutdown will be easy, but nothing is ever easy with this Congress. If Boehner has to appease his tea party members, all bets are off as far as what could be in the final House version of the CR that they pass. The House is only in session for ten days this month, so a delay of any kind is bad news.
House Republicans are starting their usual drama. By moving the vote on the CR to next week, House Republicans will leave themselves five scheduled legislative days to pass the CR. If the Senate rejects the House bill, the nation may be facing another government shutdown. A government shutdown is looking more possible, as House Republicans appear unable to control their destructive behavior.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
