Late Saturday, President Biden signed the bipartisan deal that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy proposed to keep the government funded for 45 days to avoid a government shutdown. The bill was passed by the House by a 355-91 margin. That morning, McCarthy had announced that he would try to push the short-term funding bill through the House with Democratic help. Help from the Democratic Party is a move that would keep the government open; however, McCarthy’s speakership would be put on the line. The bill won the support of mostly Democrats in the House and fewer Republicans. There were 90 Republicans who voted no, and only one Democrat voted against the measure. McCarthy had no choice but to rely on Democrats for passage because the speaker’s hard-right flank said it would oppose any short-term measure. As a result, McCarthy was ousted from his leadership position after a far-right revolt over his reliance on Democrats to pass funding in order to avoid a government shutdown.
These circumstances align with Federalist 51 and Brutus 1 because of contradictions in James Madison’s beliefs. In Federalist 51, Madison argues that a stronger federal government will not become tyrannical because of three branches of government with separation of powers and checks and balances. He believed that the three branches of government must have independent sources of power to stay separate and hold one another accountable. Madison was a realist, which was projected into Federalist 51 when he said, “Men are not angels.” However, even with these ideas implemented in today’s government, it is shown that Madison may not have necessarily been correct. Even with the three branches of government, separation of powers, and checks and balances, the government is/was at risk of shutting down and has been shut down several times in the past. However, in Brutus 1, it is argued that the U.S. is too large for a central government. This allowed states to retain power to better address local issues. Seeing how the House had difficulty supporting or opposing McCarthy’s decisions due to different political parties in one central government shows the corruption that Brutus discussed in Brutus 1. As stated in The National Constitution Center, “Brutus was the pseudonym for one of the most forceful Anti-Federalist voices during the ratification debates over the U.S. Constitution.” Brutus implied that states with more power mean more liberty and less corruption than a central government. The fact that McCarthy had to ask for help from the democratic party shows a slight weakness in the central national government which supports Brutus’ arguments. However, McCarthy made the best decision for Congress since it was either he protected his reputation or saved the government from shutting down.
