Prospects dim as US scrambles to avoid government shutdown

BBC News:

The US inched closer to a government shutdown after hardline Republicans rejected a last-minute funding deal in the House of Representatives.

Congress faces a deadline of midnight on Saturday to pass a new budget before thousands of federal employees are placed on unpaid leave.

The Senate has forged ahead with plans for a temporary funding agreement – which House Republicans have opposed.

The two chambers of Congress are controlled by different parties.

The Republican-led House of Representatives failed to pass its own short-term spending bill on Friday, with 232 votes against the measure and 198 in favour.

More than a dozen of the most hardline Republican representatives voted against its passage.

After the vote on Friday, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said the chamber might still pass a funding extension, but he declined to say what would happen next.

“It’s only a failure if you quit,” he told reporters.

The House adjourned on Friday evening without reaching a deal. Members will return on Saturday 10:00 local time (15:00 GMT), when more votes are expected.

Their plan would have extended funding through the end of October but included deep spending cuts that would have made it a non-starter for Democrats, who run the Senate, as well as border provisions that many Democrats have opposed.

President Joe Biden on Friday warned that a shutdown could take a heavy toll on the armed forces.

“We can’t be playing politics while our troops stand in the breach. It’s an absolute dereliction of duty,” Mr Biden said at a retirement ceremony for Mark Milley, a senior general.

The conflicting House and Senate funding plans have increased the likelihood of a shutdown and have exposed deep rifts in the Republican party, with some lawmakers expressing exasperation at the hardline conservatives who have so far stood in the way of a funding deal.

California Republican Mike Garcia, for example, told Reuters that he felt “frustrated” as the shutdown loomed.