Another Government Shutdown Looms After Funding Bill Fails

The Hill’s Mychael Schnell reported that “a diverse group of House Republicans torpedoed Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-La.) proposal to fund the government on Wednesday, dealing an embarrassing blow to the GOP leader and derailing his strategy to avoid a shutdown at the end of the month.”

“Fourteen Republicans joined virtually every Democrat in voting against the spending plan — which paired a six-month stopgap bill with a measure that would require proof of citizenship to vote — bringing the final tally to 202-220, with two voting present. Three Democrats crossed the aisle to back the measure,” Schnell reported. “The Speaker faced a troika of GOP opposition, with hard-line conservatives criticizing the use of a continuing resolution; defense hawks voicing concern about the impact the long-term funding bill would have at the Pentagon; and moderates expressing worries about having a shutdown threat so close to the election.”

NBC News’ Scott Wong, Syedah Asghar, Kyle Stewart and Brennan Leach reported that “thirteen days before money runs out for the federal government, there is still no bipartisan plan to stave off a shutdown. While the GOP-led House could try again, the focus now likely shifts to the Senate, where leaders in both parties agree a shutdown would be disastrous weeks before the election.”

ABC News’ Lauren Peller reported Wednesday that “Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, the chamber’s top Republican, said it would be ‘politically beyond stupid’ to allow a shutdown to take place with just seven weeks until Election Day.”

“‘I think we first have to wait and see what the House sends us. My only observation about this whole discussion is the one thing you cannot have is a government shutdown,’ McConnell said,” according to Peller’s reporting. “‘It’d be politically beyond stupid for us to do that right before the election, because certainly we’d get the blame.'”

“Democrats urged Johnson to drop his funding plan and bring a clean short-term measure to the floor to keep the government open,” Peller reported.

How A Shutdown Might Affect USDA

The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget reported on Wednesday that “discretionary funding for Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 will expire on September 30, and Congress has so far enacted zero of the 12 full-year appropriations bills to fund the government for FY 2025. Policymakers have until midnight on September 30 to avoid a lapse in government funding; otherwise, a government shutdown will occur.”

“Although many programs are exempt, the public is still likely to feel the impact of a shutdown in several ways,” the Committee wrote, including in a potential lapse of some environmental and food inspection and the availability of benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

“Though funding for the SNAP program is mandatory, the ability to send out ‘food stamp’ benefits could be affected by a shutdown, since continuing resolutions have generally only authorized the Agriculture Department (USDA) to send out benefits for 30 days after a shutdown begins,” the Committee wrote. “During the 2018-2019 shutdown, the USDA paid February SNAP benefits early on January 20, just before the 30-day window ended, but it would have been unable to pay March benefits had the shutdown continued. In addition, during any shutdown, stores are not able to renew their Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) card licenses, so those whose licenses expire would not be able to accept SNAP benefits during a shutdown.”