House and Senate on a collision course toward a government shutdown (again)

The House and Senate might not be able to agree to terms to fund the federal government by the Sept. 30 deadline, and that's OK to an influential bloc of hard-line House conservatives who are playing an outsize role in both the spending process and the fate of Kevin McCarthy's speakership.

"We should not fear a government shutdown," Rep. Bob Good, R-Va., declared at an event outside the Capitol this week. "Most of the American people won't even miss it if the government is shut down temporarily."

Good is a member of the House Freedom Caucus, and he never voted to elect McCarthy speaker in any of the 15 rounds of voting it took for the California Republican to secure the gavel in January. Good is one of about two dozen lawmakers on the right who intend to use their influence to pressure the speaker to hold the line on spending this fall.

"Our speaker has an opportunity to be a transformational