House Republicans still can’t get their act together to do the business of the people. Once again, they’re up against the deadline for passing an appropriations bill and the threat of a government shutdown looms large. Even if Congress manages to avoid a shutdown, the damage is done. Anxiety about what happens when the wheels of the government grind to a halt hangs over the heads of the American people, and Standard and Poor’s was given another reason to reduce our credit rating again.
If ever there was any doubt a handful of Republicans in the House has one mission and one mission only, their actions the past two weeks provided all the evidence one needs. They are serving Donald Trump. Full stop. They are in constant defense mode to protect him. First, they’ve been holding hearings searching for evidence against President Biden in an attempt to neutralize the negative effects of Trump’s four indictments. Now Trump himself has found a way to use a government shutdown to his own benefit. Never mind the brutal effects of a shutdown on the American people, Trump cares only about Trump.
Last week, he posted on his Truth Social account the following: “Republicans in Congress can and must defund all aspects of crooked Joe Biden’s weaponizing government that treats half the country as enemies of the state. This is also the last chance to defend these political prosecutions against me and other patriots.”
Trump is all in for a government shutdown because he sees it as an opportunity to defund the Special Counsel, Jack Smith. Smith has built strong cases for how the former president broke the law and failed to uphold the Constitution, and it’s obvious, Trump is freaking out about it.
He’s calling on Congress to, “use the power of the purse and defund the government.” In other words, he’s begging Congress to shut down the government and save him from all the trouble he’s in. And to heck with the problems of anyone else. That’s nothing new; Trump has always put himself above the needs of the nation.
Right on cue, Rep. Matt Gaetz, one of his ardent defenders in the House, messaged his fellow Republicans, “Trump opposes the continuing resolution. Hold the line.” He then added later, “It’s Kevin McCarthy’s fault the government is going to shut down. We cannot blame the Democrats.”
House Republican Rep, Jim Jordan endorsed Trump’s plan to use the government funding bill to protect him. “No money can be used to target your political opponents, which is exactly what Jack Smith is doing to President Trump,” Jordan said, and no doubt, several of the MAGA legislators will fall in line. It’s obvious who’s running the House, and it’s sure not Speaker McCarthy.
Trump has no problem with government shutdowns disrupting the lives of Americans. In 2018, he encouraged GOP legislators to shut down the government because he was angry at Congress for not appropriating funds for his wall. That shutdown lasted for 34 days. Trump was never concerned about funding the rest of the government. When Congress didn’t appropriate the money, he raided the Defense Department budget using billions of dollars for the wall that was meant for service members.
Another effort to raise money for the wall was a fund-raising PAC organized by Trump’s buddy, Steve Bannon, whom he had pardoned from a previous conviction. Bannon’s corruption continued, however, and he’s been convicted again, this time for keeping for himself most of the money raised for the wall. He was sentenced to several months in jail, but is still free on appeal of his conviction.
The solution to keeping the government open would be to craft a stop-gap appropriation bill that both moderate Republicans and moderate Democrats would vote for. The House of Representatives functions best when far right MAGAs and far left progressives have a lot less influence. If McCarthy were to take such action, however, the extreme right members of his caucus will immediately remove him as Speaker. Unfortunately, the speakership has been McCarthy’s only goal in life for a decade.
Congress needs to fund the government and there’s no excuse for a government shutdown. Real honestly, we’re in a mess here and I suspect the American people will suffer the consequences.