Congressional analysts are predicting that Congress will not be able to reach a budgetary agreement in time to avert a government shutdown this coming weekend.
That shutdown, notes USA Today, is “moving from possible to likely as Congress has failed to cut through gridlock and reach a deal to fund the federal government.”
With the government scheduled to run out of funds on Sunday morning, the Senate is closing in on a bill that will allow for the government to be funded until November 17.
But the picture remains muddled in the House, where a handful of members are continuing to hold out for substantial budget cuts that most likely will not win approval among a majority of members.
Meanwhile, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has told reporters that he’s open to establishing a commission that would be tasked with coming up with solutions to decreasing the national debt.
If established, the commission could be used as a tool to keep the government operating until a budget deal can be reached. “A number of members have been pushing the debt commission,” said McCarthy, adding that it would be a “very bipartisan committee.”
According to a variety of sources, a shutdown would impact the operation of national parks, the funding of federal college grants and loans, a wide array of food assistance programs, and federally funded preschool programs, among other services.
New Mexico Congressman Gabe Vasquez has remarked that a government shutdown would see the closing of the White Sands National Park and the Carlsbad Caverns, adding that those closures would “affect the local economies of those areas like Carlsbad, Alamogordo, and Las Cruces.”
In Arizona, Governor Katie Hobbs has promised to use revenue from the state’s lottery to keep the Grand Canyon National Park open. “The Grand Canyon is Arizona’s greatest treasure,” Hobbs remarked in a statement. “My administration’s commitment to keeping this wonder accessible remains unwavering.”
Similarly, Colorado Governor Jared Polis has issued an executive order mandating the Colorado Department of Natural Resources to develop a plan to keep the federal parks in the state open. In issuing that order, Polis remarked that the “closure of the national parks and other federal lands would hurt state and local economies, small businesses, and park employees.”
In order to keep the government funded, Congress is required to pass a dozen appropriation bills, with each of those bills providing funding for a defined government function and needing to be approved by the appropriations committees of both the House and Senate.
Because time is short, it is thought that lawmakers will instead approve a short-term stopgap measure to keep the government in business, although some House members have previously expressed displeasure with the stopgap process.
Those members have sent a letter to McCarthy saying that until spending cuts are implemented, among other things, “no member of Congress can or should be expected to consider supporting a stop-gap funding measure.”
By Garry Boulard
