Republican Demands and Divisions Drive Impasse Toward a Shutdown
New York TimesFeb 27
Biden Urges Congress to Avoid Looming Partial Shutdown
Image copyright: Roberto Schmidt/Getty Images News via Getty Images
The Facts
US Pres. Joe Biden called on Congress to find a bipartisan solution to avert a partial government shutdown later this week, as he hosted the top four congressional leaders at the White House on Tuesday.
After the meeting, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) expressed optimism about reaching an agreement to fund agriculture and transportation agencies, among others, ahead of the Friday deadline.
The Spin
Democratic narrative
As the majority House Republican Conference remains fractured, with far-right MAGA conservatives pushing for cutting federal funding and adding unacceptable partisan policy conditions to spending bills, America is yet again at the brink of an unacceptable shutdown. Similar to the three previous close calls in a year, Democrats will have to avoid it.
Republican narrative
This is the perfect time to add an automatic sequestration mechanism to cut spending in the case of future impasses. If Speaker Johnson can keep out of the way members of his own caucus who believe that threatening government shutdowns in a bipartisan brinkmanship theater is good politics, then House Republicans will be able to achieve their biggest — and easiest — win in years.
Nerd narrative
There's a 33% chance that there will be a US government shutdown before January 1, 2025, according to the Metaculus prediction community.