With just over a week to avoid at least a partial government shutdown, central New York Rep. Brandon Williams (R-Sennett) is less than impressed with how federal spending issues are being handled. Citing a recent block on the defense bill, he said things look messy.
“The dysfunction in Washington is pretty evident,” Williams said.
Current spending laws are set to expire September 30 at the end of the government’s fiscal year. With no new spending laws in place, the government would be forced to shut down until agreements are reached, something Williams said even with the dysfunction, is not the way to handle federal spending law.
“We seem to not be getting the business done, through 12 appropriations bills, but at the same time, shutting down the government is simply not the way to do that and is not acceptable,” Williams said.
He emphasized “fiscal discipline” as a potential solution.
“We have to get both fiscal discipline into our system, we can’t continue spending the way we are doing, but we also have to function as a government,” Williams said.
Williams said competing priorities are what are bringing things to a halt. He said even with some representatives volunteering to stay longer to avoid the shutdown, things will not be cleaned up quickly.
“There’s these competing priorities of avoiding a shutdown and at the same time having fiscal discipline and it’s just going to be messy for a while,” Williams said.
Several far-right Republicans in the House have voted with Democrats, causing any spending bills to fail. A frustrated House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said Thursday that "some members just want to burn the house down."
McCarthy sent lawmakers home for the rest of the week while negotiations continue.
