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Shutdown Showdown: Funding Fails

Shutdown Showdown: Funding Fails

Plus, a mission of the heart.

September 23, 2024

Good morning and Happy Monday! Here are the Flag’s Top Five stories that should be on your radar to start the day:

US: Georgia election board requires ballots be hand-counted despite warning from key GOP state officials (CNN)
World: Hezbollah hits back with rockets as it declares an ‘open-ended battle’ with Israel (AP)
Business: Nike is changing CEOs — but analysts don't see a quick fix (QZ)
Technology: Apple's standoff with EU regulators enters new phase (Axios)
Sports: A’ja Wilson and Caitlin Clark are unanimous choices for WNBA AP Player and Rookie of the Year (AP)

And of course, some good news: Vancouver pilot on a mission to save injured or abandoned baby seals.

BECOME A FLAG BEARER

🇺🇸 Somewhere between your high school history textbook and the Appalachian mountains, there's a forgotten state that almost made it onto the map. Here’s a tale of how a certain almost-state never got a star on the flag. Subscribe now to dig deeper.

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Right: Elon Eyes Tech Triumph in Free-Speech Wars, Glenn Reynolds, New York Post

Right: Pennsylvania Senate Race Tied, Bret Baier, Fox News

Right: Harris' Cynical, Run-Out-the-Clock Campaign, Victor Davis Hanson, Daily Caller

Left: Trump & Vance's Smear a Microcosm of 2024 Campaign, Sidney Blumenthal, The Guardian

Left: Trump's New Pitch to Latinos Is Predictably Insulting, Julio Ricardo Varela, MSNBC

Left: Can a College Class Still Be Diverse? Jeannie Suk Gersen, The New Yorker

CONGRESS

Shutdown Showdown: Funding Fails

Today’s Top Story: Last Wednesday, House Speaker Mike Johnson's six-month funding proposal, which included a controversial voter citizenship provision, was rejected, with 220 lawmakers opposed, including members of his own party. Senate Democrats vowed to block any bill with the measure. Johnson now plans to introduce a new three-month resolution without it.

Reporting from the Right: House fails to pass six-month government funding bill as shutdown looms (New York Post)

Reporting from the Left: House votes down Speaker Johnson's funding plan as shutdown deadline approaches (ABC News)

RIGHT-LEANING SENTIMENT

Republican Divisions

The Top Argument From The Right: Republican Divisions Sink House Bill as Government Shutdown Nears, Katy Stech Ferek, The Wall Street Journal: “With the House GOP’s initial effort defeated, Johnson now must quickly decide his path forward. Some GOP figures, including Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, are demanding that Republicans leverage the specter of a shutdown to strike a hard bargain with Democrats to tighten voter-ID rules, while others say such an effort would be futile and wrongheaded just ahead of the November elections. Johnson’s initial proposal would have extended government funding levels for six months past the Sept. 30 end of the current fiscal year. The bill, known as a continuing resolution, also includes a provision that would require voters to provide proof of citizenship to register, nodding to an issue that is a priority for Trump and many Republican voters. After the measure failed, Johnson said he was disappointed and was talking with Republican colleagues about his next steps. He didn’t provide details. … Any deal would have to be approved by the Republican-controlled House and the Democratic-run Senate. Even if Johnson’s bill had passed, Senate Democrats would have ignored it.”

Honorable Mention #1: Trump calls for government shutdown over failure of Republicans to pass temporary funding measure with SAVE Act, Jamie McIntyre, Washington Examiner.

Honorable Mention #2: Johnson's plan to avoid government shutdown goes down in flames as Republicans rebel, Elizabeth Elkind, Fox News.

LEFT-LEANING SENTIMENT

What Happens Next?

The Top Argument From The Left: The House GOP has 'concepts of a plan' to prevent a shutdown, Hayes Brown, MSNBC: “As things stand, we are less than two weeks away from the federal government’s running out of money at 12:01 a.m. on Oct. 1. The continuing resolution, or CR, that Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., put forward would have extended current funding levels for an additional six months, punting the deadline until March. But he also chose to attach the SAVE Act, a bill that the GOP falsely claims is necessary to prevent noncitizen voting in the election. … And as has often been the case with this GOP majority, the objections came from two different wings of Johnson’s caucus. On one hand you have the far-right members of the “chaos caucus,” who are opposed to the current spending levels continuing without reductions. Republican defense hawks, on the other hand, were mad at the idea of not raising defense spending for a full half-year. Democrats, meanwhile, weren’t about to support the SAVE Act, which would impose new hurdles on registering to vote to supposedly prevent the illegal and extremely rare act of noncitizens’ attempting to cast a ballot. … We’ve been through this exact scenario too many times now to assume that Republicans will learn their lesson based on this embarrassment. There’s also only a few days left now for Johnson to once again go to Democrats, hat in hand, asking them for votes to prevent a major self-inflicted wound right before Election Day.”

Honorable Mention #1: Mike Johnson's coming surrender on the government shutdown, Hans Nichols et al., Axios.

Honorable Mention #2: What happens if a government shutdown happens on Oct. 1? The impact will be swift., Jeremy Yurow, USA Today.

FLAG THIS

Where Were We a Year Ago?

Exactly a year ago, the country was faced with another potential shutdown. At the time, polling conducted by the non-partisan Partnership for Public Service revealed that over 50% of American adults believed a federal government shutdown would personally impact them.

Additionally, 68% of respondents indicated that the threat of a shutdown diminishes their trust in government, highlighting widespread concern. Notably, 65% of Democrats compared to 46% of Republicans felt they would be personally affected, underscoring a partisan divide on the issue (Axios).