Despite an apparent agreement in principle between the leadership of the Senate and Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson (R-LA) resolution of outstanding appropriations bills by January 19th failed.  A continuing resolution iwas passed again to allow time to negotiate an amicable agreement. An alternative favored by the right flank of the Republican party was to allow a Government shutdown with respect to the departments and agencies affected on January 19th including Agriculture, Energy, Veteran’s affairs, Transportation and Housing and Urban Development. At this time, speaker Johnson is opposed to any shutdown.  There is still no finalization between the parties regarding the topline spending for fiscal 2024. Speaker Johnson was able to negotiate a justifiable claw-back of emergency spending and a rescission of unspent pandemic-area funding in negotiations with the White House.

Despite the fact that the U.S. is now in an election year, both parties should realize that they have a collective responsibility to the citizen of the U.S. to govern in a responsible manner. The extreme positions of both the left and the right are impeding responsible government and sound fiscal policy.