With an impending shutdown of the federal government only hours away, Representative Harriet Hageman (R-WY) remains optimistic, but stands by what she and other elected Representatives want, saying that the process of a good government can be “messy.”
House Republicans failed to pass a short-term spending bill last on Thursday and that has triggered a mad scramble by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, as well as Senators, to come up with solution to not allow D.C. to grind to a halt by Sunday morning at 12:01 AM.
In a statement, Hageman says, “The House has passed four of twelve appropriations bills to fund the government for FY2024. These bills cut government spending significantly, end woke policies in these federal agencies, fund our military and border security operations, and bring us closer to responsibly lowering our obscene national debt. In contrast, the Democrat-led Senate attempted to pass three appropriations bills but quickly failed and has not passed any other government funding since. I am disappointed that Congress has not moved quicker and that we have not passed all twelve bills, but good government can be a messy process.”
One of the main sticking points of getting a funding deal done is border security. Members of the the far-right group of Republicans in the House called the “Freedom Caucus” want more money allocated for securing America’s southern border. Hageman, who is part of this group, says she is in favor of increasing border policies by voting in favor of “the Spending Reduction and Border Security Enhancement Act, to keep the government open through October 31st, 2023.”
Hageman explains, “The bill will reduce spending to FY2022 levels while holding defense, veterans, and homeland security funding at current levels and taking a 30% cut to other discretionary programs for 30 days. The Spending Reduction and Border Security Enhancement Act will permanently secure the border by including the majority of H.R. 2, the Secure the Border Act, and create a bi-cameral fiscal commission to identify policies to improve America’s fiscal state.”
In the likelihood of the government shutting down, the National Park Service, that includes Yellowstone National Park, plans to close its parks and furlough park rangers that would go into effect on Sunday, a move that would spoil vacation plans for tens of thousands of people and put some gateway towns (like Cody) in an economic chokehold as long as the impasse in Congress lasts.
The park service plans to restrict access to parks as much as possible, shuttering visitor centers, locking gates and bolting bathrooms, a senior Interior Department official said. Arizona and Utah have said that they will keep their national parks open as long as they can, but not every state has made that financial commitment.
A shutdown is expected to have consequential impacts across the country, from air travel to clean drinking water, and many government operations.
Federal agencies are making final preparations for the government shutdown while lawmakers in Congress are racing against Saturday’s critical midnight deadline. After meeting Saturday morning to try to find common ground and get a deal done, House Republicans are expected to vote on bills that would minimize the impact of a government shutdown rather than avoid one.
Political infighting between Republicans have been the root cause of not getting a deal done to fund the government for fiscal year 2024, and that has led to murky speculation on how this issue will be resolved. It has also triggered conversations on the future of Representative Kevin McCarthy’s (R-CA) as Speaker of the House. The Speaker has faced threats for hardline conservatives in the House over working with Democrats to get a deal done and avoid a government shutdown.
A shutdown is expected to have consequential impacts across the country, from air travel to clean drinking water, and many government operations.
“Finally,” Hageman concludes, “it will be up to the Biden Administration to decide whether they want this government shutdown to have minimal impact on all our lives, or if they want to inflict maximum pain while we work to pass all appropriations bills for FY2024.”
