Photo courtesy Pixabay.

As I sit here writing this, I can’t tell you if the federal government will shut down this weekend. But I know for sure Congress can only avoid such a fate by reaching a deal by the end of the day. Congressional leaders act as if this date snuck up out of nowhere, but it has been on calendars a very long time.

Welcome to government on the brink, where the important goal of the day is not meeting responsibilities in a timely fashion but making sure your side looks like a winner and the other like a loser.

But who looks good right now? Unfortunately, that seems an entirely subjective question most likely determined by who people think was right to begin with. Republicans will blame President Joe Biden, painting him as a Nero-type figure unwilling to work with a Republican-led House and risk giving any ground. Democrats will blame Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who somehow looks like both a feckless ruler unable to control his Republican caucus and a recalcitrant partisan determined to send a product the Democrat-controlled Senate and White House will reject anyway.

If anyone looks halfway good in this whole thing, it’s a Senate, split nearly down the middle between parties but which still passed a budget resolution on a 77-19 vote. Florida’s Republican senators split on the matter with Marco Rubio crossing the aisle to vote yes and Rick Scott voting no.

It’s worth noting Scott faces re-election next year. Not that political calculations would enter the statesman’s minds, but it’s notable the person most imminently facing a vote would rather reject a deal and keep his base happy than support a clear path forward. But then between his demand for more disaster relief and the fact the bill passed anyway, Scott has a number of defenses insulating his vote.

What of this area’s representatives in the House? Well, the House did take a vote on a potential deal Friday, but the idea any plan could pass the full House right now feels unlikely.

Still, Reps. Vern Buchanan and Greg Steube, both Republicans, at least voted Friday to advance a budget deal to the House floor.

A number of other appropriations bills also played out this week, and both cast no votes at points. Neither supported a bill that would provide funding for the war in Ukraine. While the bill passed, it failed to win over most House Republicans, or a majority of the majority, and McCarthy will run afoul of conference rules if he pushes the bill farther.

Both local representatives did support an agriculture appropriations bill, but a vote on that failed because a number of pro-choice Republicans voted against it thanks to provisions limiting access to the abortion pill Mifepristone.

All this paints a bleak picture for what some hard-right Republicans say they want, which is for Congress to take up and pass every appropriations bill individually rather than passing a contributing resolution to keep the government up and running even short-term. That almost certainly won’t happen before Sunday morning.

Honestly, as much as all parties want to make sure blame rests elsewhere, there seems to be enough to go around. Some may land on Biden as he seeks re-election next year. But then Scott, Buchanan and Steube will all be on the ballot as well. None seem in great danger of losing right now. But if Congress can’t get its act together, all can at the very least expect to hear a great deal of anger from constituents next fall.   

­Jacob Ogles is contributing senior editor of SRQ MEDIA.

Photo courtesy Pixabay.