Shutdown risks loom after US credit rating downgrade
There are renewed fears of a potential government shutdown with a funding deadline currently set for Friday.
Newly elected House speaker, Mike Johnson, said he hopes to avoid a shutdown, unveiling a two-step temporary spending plan to fund some government departments and agencies until January and February.
“This two-step continuing resolution is a necessary bill to place House Republicans in the best position to fight for conservative victories,” Johnson said in a statement. “The bill will stop the absurd holiday-season omnibus tradition of massive, loaded up spending bills introduced right before the Christmas recess.”
However, far-right Republicans might thwart that plan. Even the White House balked at the proposal.
“This proposal is just a recipe for more Republican chaos and more shutdowns-full stop,” said press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. “House Republicans need to stop wasting time on their own political divisions, do their jobs, and work in a bipartisan way to prevent a shutdown.”
The risk comes after Moody’s downgraded its outlook on the US government’s debt to “negative” from “stable.”
“Continued political polarization in the US Congress raises the risk that successive governments will not be able to reach consensus,” the ratings agency said in its announcement on Friday.
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