Democrats agree last-minute extension, avoiding shutdown
On September 30, after days of uncertainty over whether a government shutdown would come into effect after House Republicans failed to agree a funding bill, Democrats were able to sign a last-minute extension that avoids the shutdown.
While various notable and outspoken Republicans - like Georgia's Marjorie Taylor-Greene - complained about the terms of the 45 day extension, many Democrats were in a celebratory mood, expressing relief that a shutdown had been avoided, at least for the near-term.
New York Democrat and long-term adversary of Marjorie Taylor-Greene - Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez - posted on Twitter, celebrating all the good things about the newly-signed agreement:
As the New York Democrat put it:
"...we just won a clean 45 day extension, stripped GOP’s earlier 30% cuts to Social Security admin etc, staved off last minute anti-immigrant hijinks, and averted shutdown (for now)."
She concluded her post with what she sees as two of the most positive aspects of the signing of an extension:
"People will get paychecks and MTG threw a tantrum on the way out. Win-win."
AOC was happy to seize upon the opportunity to strike the latest blow in her ongoing feud with Georgia's Taylor-Greene at the same time as celebrating the signing of a new funding agreement that will benefit federal employees (including over 6,000 of MTG's constituents) ensuring they continue to receive their paychecks.
The tantrum that AOC made reference to, involves MTG telling press that another Democrat - Jamaal Bowman - had triggered a fire alarm in Congress to interfere with voting on the extension. It's an allegation that has been refuted by Bowman who has already met with Capitol police to clarify what happened.
The ongoing feud between AOC and MTG continues
The rift between Georgia's most notorious Republican and her Democratic adversary in New York seems likely to continue for the foreseeable future, based on their innate differences.
In early September MTG took a swipe at AOC with a barbed comment made during a town hall meeting in Georgia where she was discussing (and dismantling) the Biden administration's 'Green New Deal'.
As she put it in the video, referring to the Green New Deal document:
"I advise all of you to read it, it's fourteen pages. A fourteen page communist manifesto written by a bartender named Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez."
With murmurs of laughter heard in the audience, it was immediately clear that MTG had achieved her goal, both in mocking the Green New Deal as a concept, but also in taking a swipe at her adversary.
Shutdown avoided - for now
The 45-day extension of the existing government funding bill is of course good news in averting the prospect of a shutdown (for now at least). Many House Republicans, including Georgia's Taylor-Greene, were reluctant to agree to an existing bill or any extension that allowed government to proceed with the same initiatives on similar terms.
While the extension doesn't provide any additional funding to Ukraine - something that MTG has been striving for - there is clearly a lot of dissatisfaction over the actions of Congress in agreeing the extension as it stands.
Time will tell whether a new funding agreement can be struck in the next 45 days.
Do you think that Georgia's Marjorie Taylor-Greene should be more cooperative with others in her party in trying to reach a new funding agreement? Should politicians be more dignified in avoiding public feuds? Let me know your thoughts in the comments section below.
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