Kevin McCarthy’s legacy as House speaker may be shutting down the government | Opinion

Will Kevin McCarthy’s legacy as speaker of the House be that he could not keep the federal government from shutting down?

That may be overstating it. But as of midday Wednesday, a shutdown this weekend appeared nearly certain, and McCarthy has not been able to stop momentum toward that eventuality.

Hard-right members of McCarthy’s Republican caucus continue to oppose any efforts to pass budget bills — or even a stop-gap measure — to keep the U.S. government from running out of money in the final minutes of Saturday. When the new fiscal year begins at 12:01 a.m. Sunday, nonessential government offices could be closed.

Due to the super-slim majority Republicans hold in the House (221 GOP to 212 Democrat), McCarthy needs almost every GOP member to vote his way to get any legislation approved; Democrats are not going to help him. Members of the so-called Freedom Caucus — ultra-right representatives in the GOP — have refused to go along, and have stymied McCarthy’s push to get budget bills approved or even a stop-gap known as a continuing resolution considered.

The reasons given by Freedom Caucus members range from trying to rein in government spending to wanting to stop illegal immigration at the border with Mexico.

In a moment of frustration this past week, McCarthy said he did not understand members “who just want to burn the whole place down.” His comments dealt with delaying a vote on Defense Department spending due to Freedom Caucus opposition, but his view applies to the larger dilemma he has faced.

McCarthy had to meet many demands of Freedom Caucus members and endure 15 votes this past January to become the House speaker, the ultimate political prize he had long wanted.

Now he is in the vise grips of that caucus, and its members know it.

McCarthy’s leadership under stress

That is not to say McCarthy should be excused for however this turns out. He’s the third most powerful leader in the U.S. government, behind President Biden and Vice President Harris. Of course he will take the fall if a shutdown occurs.

He is trying his best to pin the blame on Biden, however.

McCarthy and others in the GOP have spent much of this week linking problems with immigrants at the southern border to the budget impasse. “If President Biden stays on the sidelines while our border is destroyed day after day, the government will shut down,” McCarthy said in a video posted to his social media accounts Wednesday.

That approach is a cheap and easy way for McCarthy and House Republicans to deflect their failure to get a budget approved. Securing the border with Mexico is a complicated, involved task that will not be hammered out in the pressure-cooker of a last week for budget deals before a shutdown.

McCarthy, who has been in Congress since 2007, accuses Biden of a lack of leadership. But the same can be said of the House speaker and getting a federal budget done.

Unpaid federal workers, closed national parks

If the government does shut down, many federal workers would not be paid. Programs that help low-income people with things like food assistance would be stopped or curtailed. Fresno State students might have federal loans delayed. National parks like Yosemite could be closed, or remain open but without any services.

Will the nation survive a shutdown? Yes. Does it cause unneeded stress on the political system that already faces too many challenges? For sure.

The Senate late Tuesday passed a stop-gap funding measure. But House Republicans criticized it for lacking border security provisions.

McCarthy has said the House will vote on a stop-gap measure of its own on Friday. There are no guarantees it will pass.

McCarthy’s 20th District runs from Bakersfield to Clovis. It includes all or part of the cities of Hanford, Lemoore and Visalia as well as Fresno, Tulare, Kings and Kern counties. The city councils in those cities, as well as county boards of supervisors, manage to get budgets approved on time every year.

But not the U.S. House of Representatives led by McCarthy.

This story was originally published September 27, 2023 at 1:13 PM.