In a surprise, Congress avoids shutdown
Lawmakers approve funding through Nov. 17
Also in today’s ‘Regular Order’ for October 1, 2023:
McCarthy chooses bipartisanship over GOP rebels.
Democrats forced to wait on Ukraine money.
You can call him Congressman Fire Alarm.
SHUTDOWN. In a contentious Saturday session which featured sharp words, surprise strategy changes, unusual parliamentary maneuvers - and even a Democrat pulling a fire alarm - the House and Senate stunned most everyone by avoiding a government shutdown, as lawmakers approved an almost seven week extension of current government funding. It may mean Congress will go through this same exercise again just before Thanksgiving.
VOTES. After Speaker Kevin McCarthy surprised everyone by veering away from a hardline Republican stopgap funding bill, the House voted 335-91 in favor of the plan, which extends government funding until November 17. The Senate later voted 88 to 9 to send it to President Biden.
POSTGAME. "It's been a day full of twists and turns, but the American people can breathe a sigh of relief, there will be no government shutdown," said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. (At least not until November 17.)
WHITE HOUSE. "This is good news," the President said in a written statement issued after the Senate vote, "but I want to be clear: we should never have been in this position in the first place."
TICK TOCK. The day began with House Republicans meeting behind closed doors in the Capitol, searching for a way forward - and fighting with each other. Short on votes for a temporary funding plan, the first idea was to fund parts of the government. “If we can pass pieces, we’ll try more pieces,” said Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA). But that was soon dropped.
SHUTDOWN. It was very obvious Saturday morning that most Republicans wanted a deal - and not a shutdown. Some tried to blame Democrats, but it sounded hollow. Republicans knew they would take a beating. "A shutdown would have left our troops working without pay," said Rep. Larry Bucshon (R-IN).
ANGER. Republicans were still furious with the 21 members who had killed a GOP plan on Friday. “We have some folks that have some personal animosity towards the Speaker, they need to get the hell - get their feelings out of the way - and do what's right for the American people,” said Rep. Greg Murphy (R-NC).
CONSERVATIVES. Meanwhile, McCarthy critics weren’t backing down. “The Speaker essentially said in conference, he’ll do anything to try to keep the government open,” Rep. Bob Good (R-VA) told reporters.
CONSENSUS. For a while, it seemed like every House Republican coming out of their meeting was floating a different trial balloon. Finally, Rep. Kevin Hern (R-OK) told us the ‘consensus’ was a CR into mid-November, with disaster funding. “What happened?” one reporter asked incredulously.
PLAN B. The new stopgap would be voted on using a special, expedited process known as ‘suspension of the rules.’ Those House bills need a two-thirds supermajority - meaning there must be bipartisan support. And that was exactly what this surprise plan from the Speaker would get.
STOPGAP. Let’s be honest - this 48-day CR was not what Republicans wanted - and they could only blame themselves. Instead of McCarthy’s original plan which paired steep one-month spending cuts with a border security bill, the plan approved Saturday simply extends current spending levels and includes $16 billion for disaster relief.
REBELS. "I think it's shameful in many, many ways," said Rep. Troy Nehls (R-TX), one of the 90 Republicans who voted against the plan, many of whom were furious about the outcome. "The bottom line is we got a lot more liberal, more spending, Pelosi-Schumer bill," said Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC).
MOTION TO VACATE. We all have known for weeks that bipartisanship was the obvious solution, even though it might spur GOP efforts to get rid of the Speaker. “If somebody wants to make a motion against me, bring it,” a defiant McCarthy said after the vote. “There has to be an adult in the room."
STING. Democrats poured salt on the GOP wounds. "MAGA Republicans have surrendered," said House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries. "People will get paychecks and MTG (Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene) threw a tantrum on the way out," said Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), who then tweeted, "Win-win."
DEMS. While Republicans gritted their teeth, the outcome was also a mixed bag for Democrats. Yes, there was no shutdown, and Republicans backed off spending cuts - but the plan to use this bill for $6 billion in aid for Ukraine foundered. "We got 45 days to fix it," said Rep. Mike Quigley (D-IL), the only House Democrat to vote ‘no.’
PATIENCE. But other Democrats argued the Congress still has time to deal with Ukraine, and having a fight just over that right now was not a winning hand. "I want Ukraine funding, but I'm not willing to shut the government down because we don't have Ukraine," said Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL).
FUNDING. At first, it seemed like Senate leaders would jointly resist the House CR, and fight together to include aid for Ukraine. But Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell gave up on that, after it became clear that his own Republican colleagues would not support such a move.
UKRAINE. Senators vowed to pass extra funding for Ukraine. "In the coming weeks, we expect the Senate will work to ensure the U.S. government continues to provide critical and sustained security and economic support for Ukraine,” read a joint statement from leaders in both parties.
WHAT'S NEXT. Instead of leaving town until October 17 as originally planned, the House will stay at work now to deal with their unfinished government funding bills for 2024. "It might take until the first week in November, but we're going to do it until it's done," said Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD).
VACATION. It's very obvious now that the six-week vacation set by House Republicans - from July 28 to September 12 - was a big mistake. GOP leaders had talked a lot about restoring 'regular order' on spending bills. But the House has approved only four of the 12 funding bills so far.
SENATE. Many Republicans were pointing out accurately that the Senate has not passed any funding bills as yet. That's true. But it's also because Republicans blocked work on the Senate floor on a bipartisan three-bill funding package.
FIRE ALARM. One of my favorite maxims from my father is, "They don't call it the House of Representatives for nothing." And that was proven again on Saturday, when Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) pulled a fire alarm in the Cannon House Office Building, as the House was getting ready to vote on a GOP stopgap budget plan.
BOWMAN. A security camera photo of Bowman pulling the alarm, next to a set of doors, quickly made it onto social media. The New York Democrat's explanation to reporters was met with skepticism and mockery. "I thought the alarm would open the door," Bowman said.
ETHICS. Republicans quickly accused Bowman of doing it on purpose to try to stop work on the House floor. "This should not go without punishment," Speaker McCarthy told reporters. Meanwhile, Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY), filed a resolution to expel Bowman from Congress. (That seems unlikely.)
DOORS. While the Capitol Police said they were investigating, Bowman said he was just trying to get across the street to the Capitol, through a set of Cannon building doors that is usually open during the week.
STATEMENT. “I am embarrassed to admit that I activated the fire alarm, mistakenly thinking it would open the door," Bowman said in a statement. "But I want to be very clear, this was not me, in any way, trying to delay the vote. It was the exact opposite - I was trying urgently to get to a vote."
GAETZ. For several weeks, we've heard the threats of Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) to try to remove Speaker McCarthy - if he put forward a temporary funding plan that gained the votes of Democrats. That's what happened yesterday - but Gaetz did not step forward to force such a vote, even though it seemed like he was trying.
ADJOURN. After the House had voted, Rep. Stephanie Bice (R-OK) offered a motion to adjourn, and that was immediately approved by voice vote. While the Speaker Pro Tempore, Rep. Steve Womack (R-AR) was gaveling out the House, Gaetz made a beeline for one of the microphones.
GAVEL. While the House video does not show Gaetz, you can see Womack suddenly look up as he is about to slam the gavel - looking in the direction of Gaetz, who was standing at the microphone trying to be recognized. Gaetz did not make it in time. Maybe he’ll offer a motion to vacate next week.
PARLIAMENTARY NERD NOTES. Saturday had a bit of everything in both the House and Senate. Once again, we had the unusual situation of not knowing what was going to happen in either chamber - which is rare. And then, we saw some unique procedural moments as well.
ADJOURN. Worried that Republicans were pulling a fast one, Democrats forced an adjournment vote in the House to give them extra time to read through the GOP stopgap plan. To play for time, dozens of Democrats lined up on the House floor so they could vote in the Well individually, taking more time.
MAGIC MINUTE. Delaying even longer, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries used his 'Magic Minute' to speak for over 50 minutes on the House floor. (It was far shorter than McCarthy's 8 hour and 32 minute speech in 2021.)
QUORUM. Over on the Senate side, we were also treated to a few unusual things. There was a live quorum call, which is rare. When not enough Senators answered, there was then a vote to have the Senate Sergeant-at-Arms request the attendance of absent Senators. That only passed 49-48.
CLOTURE. The Senate was going to vote to shut off debate on a bipartisan spending deal - but that was upstaged by the surprise CR from the House. At one point, Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell suddenly led all Republicans onto the floor to show their unity. The cloture vote was never held.
EAGLE EYE. I have a number of sharp-eyed readers who sometimes demonstrate a better institutional memory about Congress than I have - and it's always good to hear from them. On Saturday, one pointed out that my look back at the arrival of the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) also had another story to tell.
WOMEN. I wrote that when Feinstein arrived, she was one of the few women in the Senate. What I forgot was that Feinstein had taken her seat immediately after the 1992 election - in the waning days of the 102nd Congress.
ROSTER. Along with Feinstein at that time, there was Sen. Jocelyn Burdick (D-ND), who had temporarily replaced her husband. Also in office were Sen. Nancy Kassebaum (R-KS), and Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD).
NUMBERS. The raw numbers are proof of how much things have changed on Capitol Hill. When Feinstein arrived, there were four women in the Senate. Before her death on Thursday, there were 24 women.
MUSE OF HISTORY. October 1, 1827. On this date, the House Committee on Roads and Canals reported a bill to the full House which demonstrated the expansion of America. H.R. 364 authorized the design and construction of a road leading west towards Lake Michigan. Not until 1832 was the plan approved for what was known as the La Plaisance Bay Pike, which was used by settlers heading to western Michigan.
LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM:
The House meets on Monday.
The Senate is back on Tuesday.
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Email me at jamiedupree@substack.com
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Thank you for working overtime for us!
Amazing that they got to this point without a shutdown. The suspension of rules usage, gaetz trying to speak, magic minute, dude alarm...what a day! Thank you for capturing all of it!