Allies of US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy are imploring their Republican colleagues to drop their hardline tactics and work together to approve a conservative spending plan to prevent a federal shutdown.

In public overtures and private calls, Republican lieutenants of the embattled speaker pleaded with a handful of right-flank holdouts to resist further disruptions that have ground the House to a halt.

President Joe Biden on Saturday chided the “small group of extreme Republicans” who were threatening a shutdown in which “everyone in America could be forced to pay the price.”

“If the government shuts down, that means members of the US military are going to have to continue to work and not get paid,” he told a Congressional Black Caucus Foundation dinner.

Children in peril

“A government shutdown could impact everything from food safety to cancer research to Head Start programs for children.

“Funding the government is one of the most basic responsibilities of Congress. It’s time for Republicans to start doing the job America elected them to do.”

Congress had largely emptied for the weekend as the House ground to a standstill, and the White House instructed federal agencies to begin preparing for a possible shutdown. The House Rules Committee held a rare Saturday session to begin setting up the process for next week’s voting.

Time is running out for Congress to act, but McCarthy is pushing ahead with a plan urged by his right flank to start voting on some of the dozen bills needed to fund the various government departments.

The conservatives are pushing to undo the deal McCarthy reached with Biden earlier this year setting government funding levels. They are insisting on the lower spending levels McCarthy promised the Republican hardliners in January during his own race to become House speaker. But that would require severe budget cuts to government services and programs even other Republicans don’t want to make.

Ukraine war funding

One big issue for debate will be amendments to strip funding for the war in Ukraine,  being pushed by allies of Donald Trump, the Republican frontrunner in the 2024 race for the White House.

As the floor debate potentially grinds on next week, McCarthy and his allies want the holdouts to be prepared to consider a stopgap measure, called a continuing resolution, or CR, to keep the government funded while talks continue.

But many of the holdouts notably Matt Gaetz, a top Trump ally, say they will never vote for any CR — all but ensuring a shutdown, as the former president urges them on.

The other option is for McCarthy to work with Democrats to pass a continuing resolution with their votes, and the Senate is preparing such a bipartisan measure that could be sent to the House in a matter of days.

But if McCarthy joins with Democrats, he will almost certainly face a vote from Gaetz and others for his ousting.

-AAP