WASHINGTON, Sept 23 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The White House asked federal agencies to be ready for a Government shutdown scenario after Republican lawmakers in the House of Representatives had no feasible plan to maintain funding for the Government.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre emphasized: “Our message is: This cannot be allowed to happen. Their job is to maintain the operation of essential programs, to maintain the operation of the Government.”
A US government shutdown after Sept 30 seems certain unless House Speaker Kevin McCarthy can convince the right wing of the Republican Party to allow Congress to pass a temporary funding measure to avert a potential government shutdown while negotiations continue.
Disagreements among Republicans in the House of Representatives over the issue of funding the government’s operating budget are putting the United States at risk of disruption of payments for the military, law enforcement, safety and security programs, food support, handling passport and travel issues. This could negatively impact the US economy.
The US government is facing the risk of shutdown when Democratic and Republican lawmakers admit that there is not enough time for Congress to pass all 12 budget bills before the Sept 30 deadline to ensure the budget to maintain the Government’s operations.
The House and Senate will likely consider a short-term proposal to give lawmakers more time to negotiate. This proposal will cut spending for most federal agencies and extend the budget until the end of October. Republican lawmakers in the US House of Representatives still disagree on the draft budget that allows the Government continue to operate after Sept 30.
Previously, the US Government also had shutdown periods, including a 35-day period from late 2018 to early 2019 under former President Donald Trump – the longest in US history, due to disagreements between then Pres Donald Trump and the US Congress at that time about the Government Spending Bill. — NNN-AGENCIES
