The United States is heading for a government shutdown after the far right of the Republican Party led to the defeat of an attempt at a temporary budget agreement, casting a shadow on all federal agencies from access to national parks to the funding for Ukraine. There could be a closure of all but critical government services.

With a majority of 232 to 198, the House blocked the extension of government funding by 30 days to avoid a shutdown. The bill would have restricted immigration, which had little chance of making it through a Democratic-controlled Senate. However, the Republicans, the majority in the House, have no clear strategy to avert the pay disruption for up to 4 million federal workers.

The bill was introduced by the Speaker, a Republican leader, Kevin McCarthy, but eventually blocked by his fellow Republicans. President Biden commented, “McCarthy has made a terrible bargain. In order to keep the speakership, he’s willing to do things that he, I think, knows are inconsistent with the constitutional processes.”

The government would be shut down for the fourth time in ten years, and just four months had passed since a previous conflict put the country on the verge of defaulting on its $31 trillion in debt. The recurrent brinkmanship has caused concern on Wall Street, where Moody’s rating agency has issued a warning that it may harm the creditworthiness of the United States.

Funding for Ukraine also faces an uncertain future. The majority of Republicans do support the financial aid to Ukraine, but it will be unclear if the shutdown does indeed happen.

-Anushka Upadhyay