Reuters-Shutdown showdown in US Congress Time running short to fund government
September 26, 2023 4 min 751 words
这篇报道描绘了美国国会面临的紧急局势，即政府资金将在10年内第四次陷入停摆的危机中。在政府资金即将耗尽之际，民主党控制的参议院计划投票通过一项具有跨党派支持的过渡性资金法案，以确保在周六午夜（格林尼治标准时间0400）之后政府继续运转，从而给谈判代表更多时间就全年支出数额达成协议。与此同时，共和党众议院议长凯文·麦卡锡为了避免自己党内强硬派成员的反叛，将继续推动四项反映保守派优先事项的全年支出法案，这些法案不可能成为法律。 如果双方未能达成协议，数十万联邦工作人员将被停薪休假，一系列服务，从经济数据发布到营养补助将在周日暂停。国家动物园表示，他们将不得不缩减三只大熊猫回到中国前的告别派对。此次政府停摆可能对美国政府的AAA信用评级产生负面影响，因为它将凸显政治极化加剧了美国的财政状况。 总统乔·拜登和麦卡锡在5月份达成协议，结束了联邦债务上的对峙，同意在从10月1日开始的财政年度支出1590亿美元。然而，麦卡锡党内的右翼议员自那以后拒绝了这一数字，要求削减1200亿美元，即使他们党内的温和派成员，包括最高参议院共和党人，声称支持这一协议。这只占总预算的一小部分，本财政年度总预算将达到6.4万亿美元，议员不考虑对像社会保障和医疗保险这样的受欢迎福利计划的削减，这些计划预计将随着人口老龄化而大幅增长。 共和党以微弱的221-212多数控制众议院，票数不多，尤其是因为一些共和党强硬派威胁要靠民主党的选票通过立法，如果麦卡锡依赖民主党的选票通过法案，他们可能会采取行动罢免麦卡锡。前总统唐纳德·特朗普，2024年共和党总统候选人的领跑者，一直在为政府停摆欢呼，他在他的"Truth"社交媒体网站上表示："除非你得到一切，否则关闭它！" 这一政治紧张局势的进展目前尚不清楚，如果参议院通过过渡性资金法案，麦卡锡可能允许众议院投票，民主党和更为务实的共和党议员可能会支持通过这项法案。但这可能会引发共和党强硬派的反应，采取罢黜麦卡锡的威胁，使众议院进一步陷入混乱。 总之，这一报道凸显了美国政治中的分歧和紧张局势，政府停摆对国家和全球经济都可能带来负面影响，需要政府领袖们尽快达成共识以避免这一危机。
The U.S. House and Senate on Tuesday plan to take sharply divergent paths in a high-stakes spending battle, with just five days remaining until a deadline that could force wide swaths of the government to shut down for the fourth time in a decade.
The Democratic-controlled Senate plans to vote on a stopgap funding bill with bipartisan support that would keep the federal government operating after current money runs out at midnight on Saturday (0400 GMT Sunday), giving negotiators more time to agree on full-year spending numbers.
Meanwhile Republican House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy, aiming to hold off a rebellion by hardline members of his own caucus, will push ahead with four full-year spending bills that reflect conservative priorities and stand no chance of becoming law.
Hundreds of thousands of federal workers will be furloughed and a wide range of services, from economic data releases to nutrition benefits, will be suspended beginning on Sunday if the two sides do not reach agreement. In Washington, the National Zoo says it would have to curtail its farewell party for three giant pandas before they return to China.
Congress has shut down the government 14 times since 1981, though most of those funding gaps have lasted only a day or two. Though disruptive, they have not had a significant impact on the world's largest economy.
But Moody's warned on Monday that a shutdown this time would have negative implications for the U.S. government's AAA credit rating, as it would highlight how political polarization is worsening the country's fiscal standing.
Democratic President Joe Biden and McCarthy had aimed to head off a shutdown this year when they agreed in May, at the end of a standoff over the federal debt ceiling, to discretionary spending of $1.59 trillion for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1.
Lawmakers on McCarthy's right flank have since rejected that number, demanding $120 billion in cuts, even as more moderate members of their party including top Senate Republicans voiced support for the agreed-on plan.
That only accounts for a fraction of the total U.S. budget, which will come to $6.4 trillion for this fiscal year. Lawmakers are not considering cuts to popular benefit programs like Social Security and Medicare, which are projected to grow dramatically as the population ages.
Republicans control the House by a narrow 221-212 majority and have few votes to spare, particularly since some Republican hardliners have threatened to move to oust McCarthy from his leadership role if he relies on Democratic votes to pass legislation.
Biden himself has called on House Republicans to honor McCarthy's deal.
"Just a few months ago the speaker of the House and I agreed to spending levels of the government," Biden said. "Now a small group of extreme House Republicans, they don't want to live up to that deal, and everyone in America could be faced with paying the price for it."
Despite the looming shutdown deadline, the House will turn its attention first to the four full-year bills, which even if they pass would not fund the full government or prevent a shutdown. Success is not guaranteed: Republican hardliners blocked action on spending bills last week and some have said they would try to do so again.
If McCarthy surmounts that first obstacle, debate could consume most of the week, leaving little time to hammer out a stopgap bill before Sunday.
Republican Representative Ralph Norman, a member of the hardline House Freedom Caucus, said on Monday he was "100%" certain that Congress would not be able to keep the government open.
McCarthy said he was more optimistic. "I'm working everything we can to make sure this doesn't happen," he told reporters on Monday. "I always like the ball at the last second."
How that might play out is unclear at this point. If the Senate passes a stopgap funding bill, McCarthy could allow a vote in the House, where it could pass with support from Democrats and more pragmatic Republicans.
But that could prompt Republican hardliners to act on their threat to depose McCarthy, plunging the chamber further into chaos.
Former President Donald Trump, the front-runner for the 2024 Republican nomination, has been cheering on the shutdown talk, saying on his Truth social media site, "UNLESS YOU GET EVERYTHING, SHUT IT DOWN!"