There is therefore a very high risk that a shutdown – at least partially – will come into effect when the new budget year begins, that is on Sunday 1 October.
There are a number of strongly right-wing Republicans in the House of Representatives who refuse to support the bill presented by McCarthy – despite the fact that the proposal contained budget cuts of almost 30 percent. The Democrats voted against the package, as did the 21 right-wing Republicans. Friday’s vote ended 198-232.
The White House, for its part, announced in a statement that President Joe Biden will veto the proposal.
For Kevin McCarthy himself, the situation is becoming critical and the question is how long he can keep the post of speaker when he cannot control his own party mates in a situation when the nation is approaching a crisis. However, he blamed the Democrats for not passing the proposal.
“I have more ideas,” McCarthy also said when the – for him failed – vote was over.
During shutdowns, staff at certain federal agencies and US-funded operations are furloughed. But the parts of the state apparatus that are considered critical – such as the judiciary, the defense and the controls of the US airspace – continue to work, in extreme cases without the employees receiving a salary.
There have been a total of 14 federal shutdowns in the United States since 1981. The longest lasted 35 days, in 2018-2019.