They’re back. Congress reconvened after its recess to observe Yom Kippur, and it has much work to do to avoid a government shutdown, which will commence on October 1. September 30 is the deadline for a new spending bill, and none of the scenarios are good.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said he will try to get a continuing resolution passed to keep the government open until November or December, paving the way for more spending drama ahead of the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. The Washington Post, which is reeling from one of their reporters getting thrashed by Barstool Sports’ Dave Portnoy, had a decent piece about Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s obstacles in keeping the government open with a slim five-seat House majority. Is there an escape hatch? Yes, but I doubt he’ll take it.
According to the Post, McCarthy hopes to gain some goodwill with four other appropriations bills, though they’re doubtful since Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) has vowed to vote against any defense bill that includes aid to Ukraine. McCarthy already promised not to work with Democrats to cobble together votes, so what else is there? It’s a retread of the secondary protocols drafted when the debt ceiling debate was ongoing in the spring: the discharge petition. Yes, we’re back to this tactic again since there’s no way McCarthy would take up Schumer’s CR motion (via WaPo):
There is a potential escape hatch if the government shuts down.
It’s called the discharge petition — a procedural tactic with which a majority of the House can bypass McCarthy and force a vote on legislation on the floor — and it could be used to bring a CR up for a vote if McCarthy won’t do it.
While neither McCarthy nor House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.) is explicitly talking up a discharge petition, it would need the tacit support of the speaker as well as Jeffries’ buy-in.
[…]
McCarthy has said signing on to a discharge petition and voting against a rule — a procedural vote to move on to a bill — are both ways of betraying the party.
But Republicans who are contemplating partnering with Democrats to sign on to a discharge petition dismiss the accusations from some on the right that it would be a betrayal, according to multiple people present for a conference meeting last week where the issue was discussed. They note that the hard-right members have already violated McCarthy’s guidelines by taking down three rules in as many months.
Bringing a discharge petition to the floor is a lengthy process, but fortunately for the lawmakers discussing the strategy, there’s already one available. It’s the one Democrats moved earlier this year as a safety valve should Republicans fail to lift the debt limit.
All House Democrats have already signed it. Just five Republicans are needed to sign on to force it to the floor — if no Democrats remove their names.
Unfortunately for advocates of the strategy, a discharge petition is complicated procedurally. Just two have become law. And there’s no way to bring a discharge petition to the floor before Oct. 1.
So, the hatch is not an escape and doesn’t prevent a shutdown. However, if successful, it would cause a brief closure and reopening, pending five GOP defections. It was a mirage then, and it’s a mirage now.