Biden to convene his cabinet next week about tomorrow’s anticipated government shutdown – as it’s feared chaos could drag on for WEEKS
President Joe Biden will meet with his Cabinet early next week to discuss how the government will function after the expected shutdown begins Sunday.
The 80-year-old will meet his team in person at the White House, four administration officials familiar with the plans said CNN.
The The government is heading for a shutdown on October 1, without an agreement between the Republican-led House and the Democratic-led House Senate to finance the 2024 budget year. It is feared that the shutdown could continue for weeks.
Biden will stay in Washington DC over the critical weekend and stay in touch with his legal affairs team to get updates on the shutdown negotiations on Capitol Hill.
There are no scheduled public events on Biden’s calendar on Saturday, as the government moves closer to running out of money, or on Sunday.
President Joe Biden will meet with his Cabinet early next week to discuss how the government will function after the expected shutdown begins Sunday.
The government is heading for a shutdown on October 1, without an agreement between the Republican-led House and the Democratic-led Senate on financing for the 2024 fiscal year
There are fears that the government shutdown could continue for weeks
The White House communicates regularly with its staff and agencies about what to expect in the absence of government funding.
Agencies have begun developing their own contingency plans in the event of a shutdown.
Officials at two government organizations have said there are fears the shutdown could happen in recent weeks and proposals have been drawn up just in case.
One said the outlook is “hope for the best, plan for the worst.”
The looming threat of the shutdown is already impacting scheduling, including possible travel next week, for Cabinet members and other officials.
The White House is communicating with staff about the shutdown procedures, acknowledging the “uncertainty” surrounding the situation.
“We understand that uncertainty can be unsettling,” staff said in an email.
“Thank you for your hard work, dedication and patience throughout this process, and for all you do for the Executive Office of the President and the American people.”
The closure will lead to chaos among flights, the piling up of waste, the closure of national parks and the military not getting paid.
Twenty-one Republican members of Congress sided with all Democrats on Friday, voting no on a final stopgap spending plan.
It was a brutal defeat for House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who faced brutal criticism from his party’s right.
If no eleventh-hour agreement is reached, 3.5 million federal employees will go without pay: 2 million military personnel and 1.5 million federal civilian employees.
More than half of civilian workers will be furloughed, and the rest will have to report to work without pay.
The Republican Party is now trying to find an agreement that will prevent widespread chaos and disruption across the country.
Biden, 80, will stay in Washington DC over the critical weekend and stay in touch with his legislative affairs team to get updates on the shutdown negotiations on Capitol Hill
Twenty-one Republican members of Congress sided with all Democrats on Friday and voted no on a final emergency shutdown plan
The failed vote was a brutal defeat for House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who faced brutal criticism from his party’s right.
Trash cans overflow as people outside the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial at the Tidal Basin sitting, December 27, 2018, in Washington, during a partial government shutdown
The party-line plan that would have cut spending by $1.471 trillion and strengthened border security.
It was a brutal defeat for House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who faced brutal criticism from his party’s right.
Even if the bill had passed, it would not have prevented a shutdown: It would never have been taken up in the Senate, which is working on its own bipartisan measure that McCarthy rejected.
However, it would have been a starting point between the proposals of the House of Representatives and the Senate.
Some Republicans have suggested that the real deadline to get anything done is now Oct. 13, the date when service members would miss their first paycheck.
For now, federal workers deemed “essential” are being forced to work without pay.
Those deemed non-essential will be dismissed.
Members of Congress and the president will continue to get paid, although many have said they do not want to receive a salary. Many of their staffers will continue to work without pay, but will receive back pay if a deal is struck.
Others, such as janitors and cafeteria workers employed by outside contractors, will likely be fired without back pay.
According to an Axios report, a shutdown at the end of the month would be the government’s 22nd in fifty years.
The 2013 shutdown lasted 16 days and was the third longest in U.S. history, behind 35- and 21-day shutdowns in 2018 and 1995, respectively.