The federal government’s funding runs out on September 30. Let’s look at what the Republicans are doing to stop that from happening.

First, I want to remind y’all that back In June during the debt ceiling crisis Joe Biden and the GOP leadership hammered out a compromise funding bill to avoid a government shutdown. After he signed the bill

Biden praised McCarthy and his negotiators for operating in good faith, and all congressional leaders for ensuring swift passage of the legislation. “They acted responsibly, and put the good of the country ahead of politics,” he said.

Cool—there was a framework to write the spending bill, it would have passed relatively easily since it was the compromise every party agreed to, and there would be no impending crisis. Except for one thing:  that “good faith” thing. The GOP has no idea what that is.

In fact, the GOP spent its time on some of the stupidest shit it could find, like being outraged that Chuck Schumer relaxed the dress code for the Senate floor, even though Republican senators like Ted Cruz have been seen voting in gym clothes. Here’s an example of how people who, as Biden said, ‘put the good of the country ahead of ahead of politics”:

Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall, a Republican, said it’s a “sad day in the Senate” and that the people who Fetterman and Schumer represent should be embarrassed.

“I represent the people of Kansas, and much like when I get dressed up to go to a wedding, it’s to honor the bride and groom, you go to a funeral you get dressed up to honor the family of the deceased,” Marshall said. Senators should have a certain level of decorum, he added.

(I will never not dunk on Roger Marshall when pops up in my reading. He made a video touting how great Kansas City, KS is…while standing in Kansas City, MO. He deserves endless mockery for that.)

House Republicans spent Wednesday grilling Merrick Garland on their Hunter Biden obsession, and next Thursday they will use their precious, and dwindling, time to hold their first (Joe) Biden impeachment inquiry hearing. Good stuff. Time for a musical interlude:

Kevin McCarthy is running out of time because he shot himself in both feet when he decided to cave to the extremists in his delegation instead of working with Democrats to pass the original deal. A Freedom Caucus contingent, led by Matt “Butthead” Gaetz, popped up to threaten to oust McCarthy if they didn’t get what they wanted. Since working with the Democrats would probably cost him his speakership, McCarthy gave in.

The new bill is DOA. Even if it passes in the House, it will be gutted by the Senate, and the bill that is returned to the House has no chance of passing. McCarthy is so addicted to power that he’s willing to shut down the government.

And here’s the thing:  there is no political upside to shutting down the government, especially as there was a bipartisan compromise already in place, a point which I hope the Democrats begin to hammer home. Republicans always get blamed for shutdowns (and rightly so), and GOP control of the House hangs by a thread already.

Couple this with the impeachment hearings, which are only going to damage the reputation of House Republicans, and McCarthy has thrown his entire a party in a deep hole simply to hang on to the Speaker’s gavel. You even have House Republicans making sense, which led to this tweet from the White House:

https://t.co/vxYqKnLxNq pic.twitter.com/Z48ppBkBZQ

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) September 20, 2023

I want to see McCarthy hamstring his party the year for the next general election. I don’t want a shutdown because too many people, who aren’t Republican congress critters, get hurt. But THG wants the chaos of a shutdown, so here we go.

Because I already gave you the ear worm the title teased, here’s a timely celebration of this date in history: