We look at Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson’s two-step budget proposal, as well as President Biden’s upcoming meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
We are just five days away from a potential shutdown. Congress must find a way to fund the government before a looming deadline. But House Republicans have yet to agree on a spending bill among themselves, and things are getting murkier by the day. And that’s just one of the stories happening this busy week in politics. Joining us now is NPR White House Correspondent Asma Khalid. Good morning Asma.
ASMA KHALID, BYLINE: Good morning, Ayesha.
RASCOE: Okay, so the new Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, introduced a two-step spending bill yesterday. What do we know about it?
KHALID: Well, the new speaker has a serious time problem. The government could shut down by the end of the day on Nov. 17 if Congress doesn’t find a way to pass a new spending bill this week. And so there are reports, as you mentioned, of this two-stage funding measure. There aren’t many details. But really, Ayesha, what it would do is extend government funding for some organizations until a date and then set a separate funding deadline for others. You know, the White House made it clear last week that it would not generally accept this mechanism, that it would not even accept, you know, a supplemental funding bill that provides money for Israel but not for Ukraine. And last night, after these House Republican plans were reported, the White House issued a statement saying that this proposal is a, quote, “recipe for more Republican chaos and more shutdowns.” A White House official told NPR that the Office of Management and Budget has already begun telling agencies to plan for a shutdown.
RASCOE: This potential government shutdown comes as President Biden is set to travel to California and meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the APEC summit this week, which is really a critical meeting – right ; – so – because China is a big concern for people on the left and the right in this country.
KHALID: That’s right. And, you know, this is the first face-to-face meeting that Biden and Xi have had in over a year. And experts and I would say, frankly, White House officials don’t necessarily expect any kind of big plans from this meeting. But the goal is to stabilize a somewhat shaky relationship. And, you know, Biden really wanted to focus his foreign policy more on China, but the wars in Ukraine and now in the Gaza Strip have clearly changed those plans. What I will say is that the White House has often been willing to portray split screens and show these images of the president in charge and focused on policy, as opposed to the turmoil among House Republicans on Capitol Hill. And I imagine they’ll try to play it again this week.
RASCOE: This is NPR’s White House correspondent Asma Khalid. Thank you, Asma.
KHALID: My pleasure.
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