Kevin McCarthy Facing Difficult Situation as Shutdown Approaches

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., hopes to avoid a government shutdown by convincing MAGA-minded members to agree to pass a conservative-leaning continuing resolution, Politico reported.

At least, that’s the conventional wisdom among Republicans with whom the outlet has spoken.

However, that plan would need hardline conservatives such as Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., to suddenly embrace a stopgap measure to avoid a shutdown by Saturday.

Even former President Donald Trump on Sunday night called for better Republican leadership in the Senate, and ostensibly a shutdown of the government.

“The Republicans lost big on Debt Ceiling, got NOTHING, and now are worried that they will be BLAMED for the Budget Shutdown. Wrong!!!” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Whoever is President will be blamed, in this case, Crooked (as Hell!) Joe Biden!

“Our Country is being systematically destroyed by the Radical Left Marxists, Fascists and Thugs — THE DEMOCRATS. UNLESS YOU GET EVERYTHING, SHUT IT DOWN!”

A shutdown would furlough millions of federal employees.

McCarthy’s in a delicate spot. If he pursues the hard-right approach (spending cuts, conservative policy riders) favored by Gaetz and other members of the House Freedom Caucus, the legislation will be dead on arrival in the Democrat-controlled Senate.

Gaetz and others have insisted they won’t vote for any continuing resolution, even one that reportedly includes a 27% cut to non-defense spending, to keep the government open temporarily.

McCarthy’s new plan involves packaging several full-year appropriations bills together and to try to get them moving in the House, Politico reported.

However, conservative Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., said Sunday that she remains a “hard no.” So it appears unlikely that McCarthy will be able to muster the votes to move forward.

And moving forward with the full-year bills does nothing to avert a shutdown.

If the speaker instead passes a bipartisan CR to keep the government open, his speakership likely will be brought into question. A motion to vacate seems inevitable.

McCarthy’s best hope of surviving a vote on his ouster as speaker might be a divide on the right. By giving concessions to conservatives, he could make the case that rebels such as Gaetz are implacable.

Also, McCarthy has shown no sign he’s ready to move forward with a CR that could pass with Democrat votes.

He’s aware that members of the House Freedom Caucus who negotiated a potential Republican-led CR last week are getting frustrated with colleagues such as Gaetz, who immediately dismissed it.

“I honestly don’t know what to say to my fellow Republicans other than you’re gonna eat a s*** sandwich, and you probably deserve to eat it,” Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, told Fox News last week.