White House celebrates House Republican civil war: Biden administration claims ‘extreme’ and ‘reckless’ members of GOP are ‘marching US towards a shutdown in 11 days

President Joe Biden’s administration warned Wednesday of the dire consequences the country would face if the government shuts down, accusing House Republicans of “playing political games with people’s lives and accommodating the ideological demands of their most extreme, far-right members.”

Military personnel will serve without pay, delays for travelers will increase, infrastructure projects will be halted, food safety inspections will end and there will be no funding for programs like Head Start, the White House warned.

The Biden administration did not hesitate to lay the blame squarely on Republicans in the House of Representatives, where a bloody civil war has broken out among conservative and moderate wings.

“If extreme Republicans in the House of Representatives fail to push through their radical agenda, they plan to take out their frustration on the American people by forcing a government shutdown that would undermine our economy and national security.” the government said in a fact sheet.

“It is time for Republicans in the House of Representatives to stick to the bipartisan budget agreement that a majority of them voted for, keep the government open, and address other pressing needs for the American people,” Het Witte said House.

The deadline for government funding is September 30.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is working hard to convince his Republicans to come together and pass a conservative bill to keep the federal government open.

The prospects are not good. Even if Republicans unite and pass a funding bill, the Senate, controlled by Democrats, will reject it.

In a test vote on Tuesday, McCarthy failed to get House Republicans to pass their own defense bill. Five conservatives delivered the death blow. They want to see a full government funding plan from the speaker.

McCarthy, who walked off the floor after the failed vote, told reporters, “Look, the one thing you’re going to learn about me: I like a challenge — I don’t like a challenge that big — but we’re just going to stay do it until we make it.”

He has proposed a short-term bill, known as a continuing resolution, or CR, to keep the government open while negotiations continue on a long-term financing package.

That McCarthy package would impose steep cuts of more than 8% on many government departments, while sparing defense and veterans bills. It would last 31 days in hopes of giving Republicans in the House of Representatives time to pass more traditional government funding bills.

The White House denounced the bill because it would mean “devastating, arbitrary cuts to food safety, education, law enforcement, housing, public health, Head Start and child care, Meals on Wheels and more.”

The legislation also does not include the $12 billion the Biden administration has requested to replenish U.S. federal disaster funds, nor the $21 billion requested for aid to Ukraine.

Speaker Kevin McCarthy could lose his speakership in his battle with conservatives

The last government shutdown was in 2019; above a sign at the Smithsonian Zoo from that year saying it was closed for the shutdown

Complicating matters for McCarthy is that he could lose his speakership.

The threat dates back to January, when McCarthy was trying to secure enough Republican votes to become chairman. To gain sufficient support from the party’s conservative wing, McCarthy agreed to their demand to allow them to do so calling a snap vote to “vacate the seat” and remove him from office.

Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz and other conservative lawmakers in the House Freedom Caucus have threatened to use that power.

They were outraged by McCarthy’s proposed short-term spending package. Gaetz said if the speaker turned it on the floor would be ‘shot, hunter’, where he would immediately move to push the speaker out of his orbit.

“Move the damn move,” McCarthy said in response.

The Republicans have a narrow majority in the House of Representatives. McCarthy can afford to lose just five votes on any piece of legislation.

Another option he has is to make a deal with Senate Democrats and use their support to get a federal budget passed by the House of Representatives.

That would almost certainly lead to conservatives trying to hold a vote to oust him from the chairmanship.

But a government shutdown could be a political disaster for the Republican Party.

“I think you all know that I’m not a fan of government shutdowns,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said this week. “I’ve seen a few over the years, they’ve never produced any policy change and they’ve always been a loser politically for the Republicans.”