The White House: We Gave You Our Plan, Kevin!

I'm f**ked.

At 12:00am on Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023, the federal government shutdown will affect over 20 million federal employees and Americans who need federal assistance.

The House Republicans with no sense of understanding have dug their feet in and stand firm in holding the government hostage. Their opposition to President Joe Biden and Democrats have finally come to head. They have not adjourned as of yet, but House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) hopes the House can pass a bill to keep the government open.

The White House has confirmed that there will be no talks with McCarthy.

The White House and the Senate have agreed with McCarthy during the debt ceiling debate to pass a resolution without any obstacles. Now McCarthy renigged on the deal and is pushing for far right Republican proposals.

The House voted Friday afternoon to scuttle the 30-day funding bill, leaving Republicans without a game plan to avert a shutdown.

The vote failed, 198-232.

The hard-liners say they are unconcerned if the government shuts down, as it appears likely to do at 12:01 a.m. Sunday. They want the House to pass all 12 appropriations bills, with steep spending cuts, then negotiate funding with the Democratic-controlled Senate.

These 21 members of the Republican House of Representatives are fucked up.

Moderate Republicans lashed out with fury at the conservatives who voted down the funding bill, with specific criticism reserved for do nothing lawmaker Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), whom they accused of fomenting chaos to oust McCarthy.

"Unfortunately, a handful of people, and in particular a party of one, Matt Gaetz, has chosen to put his own agenda, his own personal agenda, above all else," Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) who is facing a tough reelection bid next year, said after the vote.

"There is only one person to blame for any potential government shutdown, and that is Matt Gaetz," he added. "He's not a conservative Republican; he's a charlatan."

Gaetz later tweeted at Lawler: "20 other Republicans voted with me. And, BE BEST, Mike!"

In a bid to reset, House Republicans huddled behind closed doors in the Capitol basement for nearly three hours Friday to try to hash out their differences. But they emerged from that meeting without consensus on how to move forward and keep the government open.

The House will return for a rare Saturday session, but it's unclear what they will vote on. McCarthy said after the meeting he's now eyeing a clean funding bill — with no Ukraine aid — that would originate in the House, but added that Democrats likely would not support it.

"There are a lot of personalities at play here, and multiple strategic objectives. When you have multiple objectives, you're never going to get everyone on board," a frustrated Rep. Kat Cammack (R-FL) said as she left the room.

"And I will venture to say that there are members who don't care whether the government stays open or shuts down."