(WASHINGTON) — With Congress failing to agree on spending, the U.S. is barreling toward what could be one of the largest government shutdowns in history.
Lawmakers have until the end of the day Saturday to reach a deal to keep much of the government open.
If they don’t, 3.5 million of federal workers are expected to go without a paycheck, millions of women and children could lose nutrition assistance, national parks would likely close and more.
Latest headlines:
- Millions of military members will go without a paycheck
- White House says they’re pleading with House GOP to ‘do the right thing’
- How did we get here?
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern.
Sep 29, 5:07 PM EDT
Shutdown would ‘hurt’ service members, drive down recruitment
A partial government shutdown would hurt military recruitment — as well as its members, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Friday.
Military recruitment, which is already suffering, would take a hit in a shutdown and send a “horrible message to young people” and deter them from enlisting, Kirby said.
“Young people … graduating high school here, you know, in the spring, they can be forgiven for thinking, ‘Maybe that’s not where I want to go. Why would I want to sign up and do that dangerous work, when I can’t even guarantee that there’s going to be a paycheck for it?'” Kirby said.
While Kirby said there is patriotism and a sense of duty in serving in the military, he said a shutdown hurt service members.
“You start missing a couple of paychecks when you’re in active-duty service to the nation, and it starts to hurt. You can’t buy groceries, or as many, anyway. Bills are tougher to pay, rent and mortgage payments are tough to cover.”
If the government shuts down, an estimated 3.5 million federal workers would have to go without pay – about 2 million of which are in the military.
ABC News’ Ben Gittleson
Sep 29, 4:47 PM EDT
Millions of military members will go without a paycheck
Unlike shutdowns past, where lawmakers passed appropriations bills to fund the Department of Defense personnel, the White House estimates that 2 million military members will have to without pay if the government shuts down over the weekend.
President Joe Biden, at a farewell ceremony for Gen. Mark Milley, said if the House fails to keep the government open it will have “failed all of our troops,” going as far as calling it a “disgrace.”
Austin Carrigg, a military spouse, spoke to ABC News Live about the impact a partial government shutdown will have on her family. Carrigg said she and her husband, Master Sgt. Joshua Carrigg will be in a life-or-death situation if they don’t receive a paycheck because they might not be able to afford medication for their 11-year-old daughter, who has Down syndrome, a congenital heart defect, metabolic disorder and recently suffered a catastrophic stroke.
“It really feels like a smack in the face that they think so little of us that they’re unwilling to pay our troops while they are going through this negotiation,” Carrigg explained about her frustrations with lawmakers. “We understand that negotiations have to happen and that everybody takes a stand. But that stance shouldn’t be on the backs of our military families and that’s what they’re doing this time.”
Sep 29, 4:36 PM EDT
White House says they’re pleading with House GOP to ‘do the right thing’
OMB Director Shalanda Young told ABC News Senior White House Correspondent Selina Wang that to avert a shutdown, “we’re doing everything we can to plead, beg, shame, House Republicans: do the right thing.”
Asked to respond to the concerns of mothers who rely on WIC for their babies’ nutrition, Young gave an impassioned response:
“The cavalierness is what gets me. I’ve heard people say in a Republican House conference, ‘Oh, shutdown. It’s not that bad. It’s not like the debt ceiling.’ Well, you go tell people who cannot pay their daycare bill … You go tell men and women in uniform that they don’t get a paycheck when they show up to work every day. You will tell that mother that she cannot … And you’re right, it — it sets an expectation for how people deal with their government throughout their lives.”
Sep 29, 4:16 PM EDT
How did we get here?
Earlier this year, amid the threat of a first-ever default on the nation’s debt, President Joe Biden and Speaker Kevin McCarthy negotiated a spending cap for the 2024 budget year beginning Oct. 1. But spending legislation remains mired in Congress with the hard-liners in the House insisting on curbing spending further and other proposals that couldn’t pass the Senate.
A last-ditch effort by McCarthy to pass a short-term funding measure with border security measures to keep the government open until Oct. 31 failed on Friday. More than 20 Republicans voted against it.
The Democrat-led Senate is considering a separate stopgap bill to keep the government open until Nov. 17 as well as additional funding for Ukraine and FEMA, but McCarthy has already said it would be dead on arrival in the House.
Congress remained at a standstill Friday afternoon with the shutdown deadline roughly 32 hours away.
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