With the government shutdown in five days, Congress is entering crisis mode as House Speaker Kevin McCarthy faces an insurrection from far-right Republicans eager to cut spending even if it means that federal services should be curtailed for millions of Americans.

There is no clear path forward as lawmakers return with high tensions and limited options. The House is expected to vote Tuesday night on a package of bills to fund parts of the government, but it’s not at all clear that McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) has the support needed to move forward.

Meanwhile, the Senate, trying to avoid a federal shutdown, is preparing its own bipartisan plan for an emergency measure to buy some time and keep offices funded past Saturday’s deadline while work continues in Congress. But plans for additional aid to Ukraine have run into trouble as some Republicans in both the House of Representatives and the Senate oppose directing more money to the war effort.

Against the backdrop of the mounting chaos, President Biden warned Republican conservatives against their heavy-handed tactics, saying that funding the federal government is one of Congress’ most basic fundamental responsibilities.

Biden implored House Republicans not to go back on the debt deal he struck with McCarthy earlier this year, which set federal government funding levels and became law after approval by both the House of Representatives and the Senate was signed.

We made a deal, shook hands and said this is what we were going to do. Now they are backtracking on the deal, Biden said late Monday. If Republicans in the House of Representatives aren’t doing their job, we should stop electing them.

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A government shutdown would disrupt the U.S. economy and the lives of millions of Americans who work for the government or rely on federal air traffic controller services, who would be asked to work without pay for about 7 million people in the Women, Infants and Children -program. , including half of U.S.-born babies, who the White House says could lose access to nutritional benefits.

It comes against the backdrop of the 2024 election, as former President Trump, the leading Republican challenging Biden, is urging Republicans in Congress to shut down Congress and undo the deal McCarthy made with Biden.

Republicans are also being encouraged by former Trump officials, including those preparing to make cuts to the government and federal workforce if the former president retakes the White House in the 2024 election. With five days to go before Saturday’s deadline , the unrest is unfolding as Republicans in the House of Representatives hold their first impeachment inquiry into Biden this week, examining his son Hunter Biden’s business dealings.

Unless you have everything, lock it down! Trump wrote in all caps on social media. It’s time Republicans learned to fight!

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McCarthy arrived at the Capitol early Monday after a tumultuous week in which a handful of far-right Republicans torpedoed his latest plans to advance a typically popular defense funding bill. They brought the House to a standstill and leaders sent lawmakers home for the weekend with no endgame in sight.

After the House Rules Committee met Saturday to prepare for this week’s vote, McCarthy hoped the latest plan for a four-bill package, funding Defense, Homeland Security, Agriculture and State and Foreign Operations, would ease the process would give an impetus.

Let’s get started on this, McCarthy said. “Let’s make sure the government stays open while we finish our work and pass all the individual bills.

But at least one Trump ally, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), who is also close to McCarthy, said she would be a hard no on the vote to open the debate, known as the Rule, because the package van The accounts still provide at least $300 million for the war in Ukraine.

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Other far-right conservatives and Trump allies could follow her lead.

Now you have some new people considering voting against the rule,” said Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.), referring to the upcoming procedural vote.

Buck, who was once robbed himself, told reporters at the Capitol that he would vote for the package, but he’s not sure McCarthy will have enough to pass. “I don’t know if he’ll get them back on board or not,” Buck said.

Although their numbers are only a handful, the far-right Republican faction has too much power because the majority in the House of Representatives is small and McCarthy needs almost every vote from his side for party bills without support from Democrats.

The speaker has given those left behind many of their demands, but it still hasn’t been enough as they push for more, including cutting funding for Ukraine, which President Volodymyr Zelensky told Washington last week is critical for winning the war against Russia.

Hardline Republicans want McCarthy to drop the deal he struck with Biden and stick to previous spending cuts promises he made to them in January to win their votes for the gavel, citing rising debt of the country.

Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, a key Trump ally who leads the right flank, said on Fox that a shutdown is not optimal but that it is better than continuing on the current path we are on toward America’s financial ruin .

Gatez, who has also threatened to call a vote to remove McCarthy from office, wants Congress to do what it rarely does anymore: debate and pass each of the twelve annual bills needed to fund the various government departments, usually a process that takes weeks. , if not months.

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I am not in favor of a shutdown, he said. But he said he wants to hold McCarthy to his word.

Even if the House could complete its work on some of these bills this week, which is highly uncertain, they would still need to be merged with similar Senate legislation, another lengthy process.

Meanwhile, senators last Saturday drafted a temporary measure, called a continuing resolution, to preserve the funded government, but have run into trouble in fulfilling Biden’s request for additional funding for Ukraine. They face resistance from a handful of Republicans to the war effort.

A Senate aide said the talks would continue through the night. And a spokesperson for the White House Office of Management and Budget said the administration would continue to work with members of both parties in Congress to secure additional funding and ensure efforts to support Ukraine continue among other important priorities, such as disaster relief.

With just days left before a shutdown, some of the holdouts say they will never vote for an emergency measure to fund the government as they push for Congress to join the full-scale debate.