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Debt Ceiling Deal Might Have Laid Foundation for US Gov Shutdown This Fall

© Sputnik / Alexey AgarishevThe US Congress building at Capitol Hill in Washington, DC.
The US Congress building at Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. - Sputnik International, 1920, 15.06.2023
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October 1 might seem like a long way off in mid-June, but it’s already on people’s minds on Capitol Hill, as different interpretations of the debt ceiling deal struck earlier this month are widening the rift on what the 2024 budget should look like.
When the Republican-led House of Representatives and the Democrat-controlled White House reached an agreement to lift the debt ceiling and avoid an imminent government default in early June, the last-minute deal included provisions for maximum spending on future budgets.
According to reports in US media, the Republicans and Democrats have two very different interpretations of what that spending cap means, with Democrats seeing it as a spending target and Republicans saying it represents an upper limit, but not a goal.

"You always have to remember with appropriation levels - that's your cap. You can always do less," House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) told reporters on Monday.

Rep. Kay Granger (R-TX), who chairs the House Appropriations Committee, echoed the Speaker's words, saying the negotiated cap for fiscal 2024 spending represents "a ceiling, not a floor" for the budget bills lawmakers will have to pass before the year is out.
Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., talks with Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla. - Sputnik International, 1920, 07.06.2023
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"That is why I will use this opportunity to mark up appropriations bills that limit new spending to the fiscal year 2022 topline level," she said, nothing that Republicans plan to try and strike billions of dollars meant for what she called "unnecessary, partisan programs."

Granger said the GOP will "refocus government spending consistent with Republican priorities, keeping total spending 1% lower than if we were operating under a continuing resolution."
Democrats have sharply dissented, with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) saying Democrats will oppose a budget bill less than the agreed-upon spending levels.
Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-CA), who chairs the House Democratic Caucus, warned that Democrats were willing to shut down the government by refusing to agree on a spending bill with the “deep cuts” Republicans want.

"The Senate is going to mark up to the deal that was made. And so House Republicans are going to completely make themselves irrelevant [and] make their members vote on these deep, deep cuts, and it has no possibility of becoming law," Aguilar told reporters Tuesday.

"These are the deals that Kevin McCarthy has to make in order to hold the gavel," he said.
Newly-elected Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., talks to reporters after a contentious battle to lead the GOP majority in the 118th Congress, at the Capitol in Washington, Saturday, Jan. 7, 2023. - Sputnik International, 1920, 07.06.2023
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If the two sides cannot agree on a spending bill by October 1, the federal government will run out of money and be forced to begin temporarily shutting down agencies, departments, and roles deemed non-essential, until a new spending bill can be passed.
The longest such shutdown lasted 34 days, from December 22, 2018, through January 25, 2019, amid sharp disagreements about funding construction of the US-Mexico border wall project pushed by then-US President Donald Trump.
While such shutdowns can have a deleterious economic effect since they halt money from being put into the US economy, they have never had the catastrophic results that were at stake in the debt ceiling showdown that ended earlier this month, which risked forcing the US government to default on its debts.
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