“House Republicans’ failure to act responsibly would harm American families and cause economic hardship that could undermine the progress we are making,” Yellen said.
“A shutdown would affect many key government functions, from lending to farmers and small businesses to food and labor safety inspections to Head Start programs for children. And it could delay important infrastructure improvements,” he said, adding that such investments drive economic growth.
His comments echoed those of the White House’s top economic adviser, Lael Brainard, who said Friday that a government shutdown is an “unnecessary risk” to a resilient economy, now with moderate inflation.
Brainard told CNBC that avoiding a shutdown of government funding is “completely in the hands of the House of Representatives, House Republicans in particular,” and that risks to the economy include active duty military service members being left without pay, delays in air traffic and people with fewer resources not being able to access government benefits.
Negotiations fail
Hardline Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives on Friday rejected a bill proposed by their leader to temporarily fund the government, making it almost certain that federal agencies will partially shut down starting Sunday.
The Lower House rejected in a vote of 232 to 198 a measure to finance the Government for 30 days aimed at giving legislators more time to negotiate.
The bill would have cut spending and imposed restrictions on immigration and border security, Republican priorities that have little chance of passing in the Democratic-majority Senate.
Meanwhile, the Senate, in a bipartisan effort, has been pushing a similar bill, known as a continuing resolution, or CR, to fund the government through Nov. 17.
“It’s not the end yet, I have other ideas,” Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy told reporters after the defeat of the bill he had supported.
The National Park Service will close, the Securities and Exchange Commission will suspend most of its regulatory activities, and the salaries of up to 4 million federal workers will be stopped starting Sunday, if Congress does not approve a spending package sooner. of that date.
It would be the fourth shutdown of federal agencies in a decade and comes just four months after a similar confrontation left the government just days away from defaulting on debt payments of more than $31 trillion.
The repetition of this risky political game has generated concern on Wall Street, where the rating agency Moody’s has warned that the stalemate could damage the country’s creditworthiness.
McCarthy attempted to use the bill’s border provisions to pressure at least nine holdout radicals to back the measure and avoid the scenario of a shutdown.
“Each member legislator will have to state their position: Are they willing to secure the border or do they side with President Biden with an open border and vote against a measure to keep the government open?” he told reporters.
Hardliners who oppose the measure want Congress to move forward with large-scale spending legislation for fiscal year 2024.
2023-09-30 10:36:31
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