End the Gridlock -- IFPTE Letter to House Leaders Urges Agreement on Interim Speaker to Prevent Shutdown

The House of Representatives has been without a House Speaker and unable to govern for 20 days, leaving it unable to consider legislation and pass necessary bills that support working families, our national defense, economic prosperity, and the critical services and programs that Americans depend on. The House’s inability to legislate and govern is especially evident as the U.S. government is fast approaching a lapse in government funding on November 17 if Congress fails to pass a temporary spending bill. This historic gridlock is the result of internal disagreements among House Republicans about who should be the next Speaker of the House.

In response to this unprecedented situation, IFPTE sent a letter to House Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick McHenry and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and asked them to, “work together to come to an acceptable path forward to allow for an Interim Speaker to, at the very least, consider and advance must-pass legislation that the American public so urgently depends on.  This starts with passing the Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24) funding bills, either individually, through an Omnibus, or a series of minibus bills.” The letter was also shared with all House Republican and Democratic leaders.”

IFPTE’s letter also noted that the union “hopes that the next Speaker will be a person whose loyalty is to America, the people who live here, and to our Constitution, and not to a small, fringe element within the Republican Party who would rather defund the government altogether than provide the services the public expects, including such programs as Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Veterans healthcare, keeping our roads, bridges and airspace safe, and supporting our fighting men and women, just to name a few.“

Finally, IFPTE’s letter offered an instructive example from the past, when legendary House Speaker Tip O’Neill remarked on the divided government after President Reagan defeated Jimmy Carter in 1980 and said:  “We’re going to cooperate with the President.  It’s America first and party second.” 

Read IFPTE’s letter to Speaker Pro Tempore McHenry and House Minority Leader Jeffries.

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