Inside McCarthy’s Shutdown Turnabout

“Speaker Kevin McCarthy began the final day before a government shutdown pinned against the ropes, facing dim prospects of passing any stopgap funding measure to avert the crisis that was to go into effect when the clock struck 12:01 a.m. on Sunday,” the New York Times reports.

“He ended it still on the ropes, having bucked expectations and passed a spending bill to keep the government open through mid-November — but only after being forced to turn to Democrats for help pushing through the legislation that his detractors denounced as a Republican surrender.”

“In between, there was a game of chicken between the House and the Senate over their competing stopgap spending plans, a fire alarm pulled by a progressive congressman in the Capitol complex, a 50-minute filibuster by the House minority leader as Democrats sought more time to figure out whether they wanted to help pass Mr. McCarthy’s plan, and more threats by Representative Matt Gaetz of Florida and his hard-right cohorts to call a vote to oust the speaker.”

CNN: Why McCarthy decided to take on his right flank and prevent the shutdown.