The U.S. government appears to be barreling toward another shutdown as House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is refusing to bring a Senate stopgap bill to the floor for a vote and does not have enough support to pass his own short-term House measure. Many Republicans oppose the short-term Senate bill, in part because it contains aid for Ukraine and disaster relief. McCarthy remains beholden to the far-right faction of his caucus, which is pushing for steep cuts to social spending that would hit essential food programs, education and housing. Missouri Democratic Congressmember Cori Bush said, ”MAGA Math is cutting food assistance for millions of children and families while simultaneously increasing tax cuts for billionaires. Once again, Republicans’ greed is taking the food out of hungry children’s mouths. Shameful.” McCarthy had previously agreed to current spending levels as part of the debt-ceiling deal.

Meanwhile, government workers are bracing to again lose their paychecks. This is Everett Kelley, head of the union representing federal workers.

Everett Kelley: “It’s a detriment to our economy. It’s a detriment to our communities and to the workforce. And we need to be stable. We need to be able to know that we got a job and that we’re able to provide for our families.”

The government will shut at midnight on Saturday if no deal is reached.

Meanwhile, far-right Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene passed an amendment to the defense bill to reduce U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s salary to $1.