The Democrat-controlled federal government may shut down on Friday if a few Senate Republicans continue to insist that funding the government must address the needs of American families.
The shutdown is probable if Sens. Mike Lee (R-UT), Roger Marshall (R-KS), and Ted Cruz (R-TX) continue to object Thursday and Friday to a funding bill over concerns the measure finances the nationwide vaccine mandate on the private sector.
The federal government runs out of money Friday at midnight.
Senate Republicans can ultimately postpone the government funding for nine days because Senate rules provide the means by which an individual Senator can block the funding of nonessential initiatives.
“It’s up to Sen. Schumer. If he’ll stop any type of funding for the vaccine mandate, then I think this goes forward. But if he doesn’t. … The folks back home want to know how hard we’re fighting for them,” Marshall said Wednesday.
Thursday morning, the House introduced the vehicle the Senate must ultimately pass to fund the government. Reports indicate the House bill, called a continuing resolution or CR, still includes the funding for President Biden’s vaccine mandate on the private sector.
The bill would reportedly fund the government until February 18. After that date, the Democrat-controlled Senate must again act to fund the government, a process that slows down Democrat legislative priorities.
The Republicans’ plan of blocking a federal funding bill that infringes on American rights could have a wide ranging impact on Democrat priorities, such as delaying Biden’s $1.9 trillion reconciliation package into an election year. The delay could also jam Democrats’ chance of raising the debt ceiling before December 15.
Democrats could have avoided the logjam if they would have passed the spending bill in October, instead they opted to focus on forwarding Biden’s radical agenda.
Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter @WendellHusebø
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