Forever Furloughed

Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) was ousted from his position on Tuesday after US Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) filed a motion to vacate the speakership.

There was some hope Democrats would come to McCarthy’s aid and prevent Gaetz and his allies in the Republican party from removing him; however, the entire Democratic caucus voted along with eight Republicans to remove McCarthy as the leader of the lower chamber.

The vote came after Congress narrowly passed a continuing resolution to keep the government funded until mid-November. One of the largest sticking points was additional funding for the Zelensky regime in Ukraine, a provision that ultimately did not make it into the bill.

Gaetz accused McCarthy of making a “secret side deal” with Democrats on Ukraine in exchange for helping him pass the funding bill. That accusation was seemingly backed by Democrats when US President Joe Biden publicly called on McCarthy and other House Republicans to “keep their word” by authorizing more Ukraine funding.

To date, the US has given $111 billion in funding to Ukraine since the start of Russia’s special military operation, but support for continued aid has steadily dropped in the US and Europe - the primary benefactors of Kiev.

A recent poll found 55% of Americans oppose further aid in Ukraine. Meanwhile, Poland said it would halt funding and a political party that promised to end the funding recently won parliamentary elections in Slovakia.

Nearly half of House Republicans have come out against further aid to Ukraine without concessions from the Democrats on other issues.

The near government shutdown followed a debt default that was narrowly avoided during the summer. With another possible shutdown less than two months away, working for the US government - once seen as a stable alternative to the private sector - has critics acknowledging it's looking less dependable every day.