Kevin McCarthy, up to his neck in water in his political wreck, took the life preserver of despair on Saturday and threw a Hail Mary.
This expression is used in American football when the game is losing, there are a few seconds left, and the quarterback, the so-called quarterback, throws the ball practically from end to end of the field to see if there is any luck, he catches it their receiver and scores the touchdown (try) that gives them the win.
After being humiliated by members of his party on Friday, the Speaker of the Lower House launched his Hail Mary this Saturday to try to avoid the financial shutdown of the Government in extremis. The term ended in the first second of October 1. So he resorted to the float of his rivals in the face of a problem he himself caused, “kidnapped” by the blackmail of the rebels inside his house, in the middle of the civil war.
The play went well for him. He got an extension, until mid-November, because the Democrats came to his rescue, a decision that angered Trumpist lawmakers, the ultra-right MAGA, who already announced their intention to remove him from office.
His provisional financing project of the Government, for 45 days, which is described as clean (there are no cuts in social or other items), contains 16,000 million for aid for the impact of catastrophes (a figure that fits with the White House request), but includes nothing for Ukraine (liberal request) or extra investment for the border (core issue for conservatives).
Because this is emergency legislation, McCarthy needed two-thirds of the House in favor. The result left no doubt, 335 to 91. In the analysis, however, there are clouds for him. Of the 91 who voted no, there was only one Democrat, for 90 Republicans, clear proof of the censure of the speaker within their ranks. This result did not mean the end of the threat of closure, but it was close to the end of the danger even if it is in an expiring patch.
The project was then moved to the Senate for ratification, with the option to introduce changes. Only then could it go to President Joe Biden’s desk so that he would sign it and the Administration would continue to function normally today.
White House sources pointed out that, in the face of the disaster, this initiative was better than nothing. In the Senate, unless the prosecution arrives and there is no member who puts up unexpected obstacles, it also seems that there is a favorable opinion.
The Republicans, by order of the head of the minority, Mitch McConnell, delayed putting to a vote the project they had already agreed with the other group, in which there were 6 billion for Kyiv and nothing extra for the border.
McConnell, one of the biggest advocates of collaborating with Ukraine, said he is willing to give it up temporarily.
In statements to MSNBC, and clarifying that they had not yet met as a party, Democratic Senator Tim Kane also expressed the opinion of voting in favor of this extension. “We have until mid-November to negotiate some cuts and aid for Ukraine,” he stressed.
In a borderline situation, everyone, except the ultras of the Lower House, considered their resignations to be good to avoid a shutdown of the Government that would affect millions of Americans who work in the Administration and in key services such as the army, the border patrols, air traffic controllers or national parks, a very important source of income for the states in which they are located.
But the clock continues to mark the countdown. The United States is almost two feet by hanging from the abyss.
