Biden Urges Congress to Avoid Looming Partial Shutdown

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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.1
  • 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.2
  • Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), meanwhile, claimed that Johnson — who publicly opposed additional short-term stopgap bills last month — 'unequivocally' committed to averting the shutdown.3
  • Schumer also told reporters that everyone in the room, particularly Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), urged Johnson not to further delay Ukraine aid. In a one-on-one meeting with Biden after the others left, the speaker said the House would quickly address Ukraine.4
  • This meeting comes as ongoing negotiations to avoid a partial shutdown failed to produce a compromise over the weekend, with Schumer and Johnson blaming each other for the holdup.5
  • Following the record-long shutdown that began in December 2018, the federal government has successfully avoided shutdowns despite several near-misses — including one at the eleventh hour on Sept. 30 and two others since then.6

Sources: 1NBC, 2Newsmax, 3The Hill, 4POLITICO, 5FOX News and 6WSJ.

Narratives

  • Democratic narrative, as provided by The New York Times. 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, as provided by The Washington Times. 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.

Predictions