- The GOP is threatening to shut down the government to block funding for federal agencies implementing Biden's vaccine and testing mandates.
- But the mandate hasn't taken effect yet and has even been stayed by federal courts.
- Conservatives appear to be angling for a "symbolic win," a conservative expert said.
Congress is inching closer to a government shutdown in two days as conservative lawmakers threaten to oppose a short-term funding bill over President Joe Biden's vaccine and testing mandate for large employers.
There's just one problem with their combative approach: the directive hasn't taken effect yet and it will likely be tied up in courts for a while.
Both Sens. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and Mike Lee of Utah are threatening to hold up swift passage of a short-term government funding bill (known as a continuing resolution) over the mandate, something that requires the consent of all 100 senators in the upper chamber. It mirrors earlier demands from other House lawmakers like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Chip Roy of Texas. Failure to pass a funding bill means the government closes its doors after 11:59 pm on Friday.
The vaccine and testing mandates are reviled among Republican lawmakers, who view it as a case of gross federal overreach. Biden issued it in September as cases from the Delta variant surged, and it was supposed to take effect in January. But GOP officials in 23 states sued to prevent the Occupational Safety and Health Administration from carrying it out. It was blocked in early November.
Judi Conti, the government affairs director at the National Employment Law Project, said it would take several more weeks for the federal courts to either uphold or strike down Biden's mandate on large employers.
"It's not in effect yet," she said in an interview. "Anybody who was planning to try to shut the government down over a mandate that isn't even going to take effect yet — because it's tied up in the courts — is getting ready to inflict an awful lot of cruelty on federal employees and contractors across the country for absolutely no reason."
She added that a government shutdown would threaten to jeopardize the flow of paychecks to federal workers. They'd eventually get back pay, but some could struggle to cover day-to-day expenses like groceries and rent during a shutdown. For contractors, it's a different story: Conti says they could lose out on their pay entirely.
Conservatives appear to be angling for a "symbolic win," according to Philip Wallach, a regulatory expert and senior fellow at the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute.
"It makes sense in as much it's something that their base constituents care a lot about and something they think is weak given the court rulings so far," Wallach told Insider. "The CR is their point of maximum leverage right now."
Other Republicans aren't sold on the approach from the conservative hardliners. "I just don't quite understand the strategy or the play of leverage for a mandate that's been stayed by 10 courts," Sen. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota told reporters.
With few signs of the feud being resolved on Wednesday, Republican leaders tried projecting confidence that the government ultimately wouldn't shut down. "I think we're going to be okay," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters on Friday.