Republicans Placing Government Shutdown Blame on Joe Biden and the Border

The federal government will likely shut down in three days, and so far, Congress cannot agree on future spending levels or find the votes needed to pass a short-term extension.

At the center of this turmoil is Speaker Kevin McCarthy who, unlike Senate leaders, has largely refused to pass spending bills in a bipartisan manner. With Republicans controlling the House by a slim margin, McCarthy cannot lose more than five votes, and some of his own conservatives have shown little desire to compromise when legislation does not meet all of their desires.

Aware of the blame Republicans have faced for past government shutdowns, McCarthy and other Republicans have taken to blaming President Joe Biden for a potential shutdown, ignoring the fact that funding the government is a congressional responsibility.

On Tuesday, when asked whether there'd be a shutdown, McCarthy said, "I don't know. Ask President Biden." He later doubled down on the position saying, "The president can keep government open by getting something on the border."

The Senate aims to pass a "continued resolution" (CR) that would push back the shutdown deadline by extending government funding at its current levels while also extending funding for the Ukraine conflict. Nearly half of House Republicans oppose supporting Ukraine and instead want to see funding for the border included in their CR.

However, the border provisions Republicans want have not seen bipartisan support and are unlikely to pass the Senate. If the two chambers cannot come to an agreement the government will shut down. Since McCarthy made his remarks, GOP leaders have ramped up this message.

When asked how much blame he believes the president deserves for a potential government shutdown, Texas Congressman Chip Roy, policy chair of the hard-right Freedom Caucus, said "pretty much all of it" because he's "utterly failed to do his job to secure the border."

Florida Congressman Byron Donalds, a rising star within the Freedom Caucus who gained national notoriety after being nominated for speaker when conservatives were looking for a McCarthy alternative, echoed Roy's stance. He dismissed potential Senate opposition.

"I've been very clear that the government should not continue to be funded if our border is not secure," Donalds told Newsweek. "We've passed a border security bill. The Senate has not talked about it. They've not debated it. They've not said, 'Hey, let's come up with our own and send it back to the house.' They've not done anything. They've basically fiddled while the border burns."

The border remains a political vulnerability for the White House as migrant encounters at the southwest border reached the fifth highest level seen over the course of the Biden presidency, with U.S. Customs and Border Protection reporting nearly 233,000 encounters.

Despite this, it remains to be seen whether voters will link this situation to a potential government shutdown and hold the president responsible.

A poll released Wednesday by Monmouth University found that if the government shuts down, 27 percent of Americans will blame Biden, 43 percent will blame Congressional Republicans, while 21 percent will blame Congressional Democrats.

House Democrats find the notion of the president being to blame laughable. New York Congressman Jamaal Bowman, an outspoken member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, laughed when asked to respond to McCarthy's comments.

"Speaker McCarthy is the ultimate example of a weak leader; a weak leader never holds themselves accountable—they always point fingers at someone else," Bowman told Newsweek. "What's most disappointing and unfortunate is we continue to display a fractured government that can't get things done under his leadership."

Illinois Congressman Chuy Garcia, also a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, similarly sees the GOP's border rhetoric as a desperate move. He expressed frustration that the situation has even materialized, given that McCarthy and Biden struck a deal on spending levels following spring debt limit negotiations.

He said that McCarthy's reneging of the deal, fueled by demands from his conservative flank to cut spending, represents a failure of leadership, and he believes the border is being used as a weapon of convenience to deflect the pressure Republicans are facing.

"What's your word worth if your signature doesn't mean anything?" Garcia told Newsweek. "They empowered their leader to enter into an agreement with the president during the debt ceiling negotiations, and they should live by it."

"The border is being used as a weapon," he added. "It's a distortion. They've always blocked immigration reform."