The U.S. House and Senate on Tuesday plan to take sharply divergent paths in a high-stakes spending battle, with just five days remaining until a deadline that could force wide swaths of the government to shut down for the fourth time in a decade.
, though most of those funding gaps have lasted only a day or two. Though disruptive, they have not had a significant impact on the world's largest economy.that a shutdown this time would have negative implications for the U.S. government's AAA credit rating, as it would highlight how political polarization is worsening the country's fiscal standing.
That only accounts for a fraction of the total U.S. budget, which will come to $6.4 trillion for this fiscal year. Lawmakers areto popular benefit programs like Social Security and Medicare, which are projected to grow dramatically as the population ages. If McCarthy surmounts that first obstacle, debate could consume most of the week, leaving little time to hammer out a stopgap bill before Sunday.
How that might play out is unclear at this point. If the Senate passes a stopgap funding bill, McCarthy could allow a vote in the House, where it could pass with support from Democrats and more pragmatic Republicans.
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