Would the nation default on its debts? Would the world endure an economic cataclysm because the federal government failed to pay its bills? The debt ceiling was all politicos could talk about as the GOP tried to force the Biden administration to negotiate.

And after weeks of resisting, the White House folded and bartered with the GOP.

House Republicans used this leverage to end the (seemingly) never-ending extension of the Trump-era student loan payment pause, phase in new temporary work requirements for certain adults receiving food stamps and claw back $30 billion in unused COVID-19 relief funding.

Months later, House Republicans again find themselves with leverage. If Congress doesn’t pass a bill funding the government before the end of September, key agencies will shut down.

Hello, I’m Erin B. Logan. I cover national politics for the Los Angeles Times. This week, we are going to discuss the GOP, the federal budget and a potential shutdown.

Laying the groundwork?

Federal law stipulates that revenue bills — including the ones that fund the federal budget — must originate from the House of Representatives. This origination clause efficiently gives the party in control of the lower chamber disproportionate control of the purse strings.

Right now, that’s the GOP. And for now, much of the power in the House GOP belongs to arch-conservative members who are willing to withhold their votes from key legislation, including many of the members of the hard-line Freedom Caucus.

This month, 21 Republicans — all of whom are in the Freedom Caucus — sent Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) a list of demands. The lawmakers want McCarthy to publicly reject certain funding bills for the war in Ukraine and to not send all 12 spending bills to the floor until they pass through committee. They also demand that Congress spend less than what was agreed to in the bipartisan law that suspended the debt ceiling.

Americans, the letter claimed, “do not care about ‘unity’ absent unity of purpose and achievement.”

“They expect us to go beyond the theater of hearings, messaging bills that die in the Senate, or very modest spending limits in the wake of record inflationary spending levels,” the letter said.

The threat is not one McCarthy can take lightly. The GOP has only a five-seat majority in the lower chamber. And if Democrats do not cross party lines, the government could shut down.

Not everyone is concerned, though.

In an interview with the Associated Press, Democratic Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy said that “this crowd that is giving McCarthy trouble is irrelevant for purposes of getting appropriations bills passe[d].”

He added: “When it comes to appropriations bills, you have to create a coalition that doesn’t include the Freedom Caucus.”

The latest from Trumpland

—Former President Trump said Tuesday that federal prosecutors have told his legal team that he is a target of their investigation into efforts by him and his allies to overturn the 2020 election and keep him in power, Times writer Sarah D. Wire reported.

—Trump’s attorneys and the special counsel who indicted him over his retention of classified documents after leaving the White House met in federal court Tuesday for a hearing to discuss a trial date and how classified materials will be shared during the proceedings, Wire reported.

The latest from Washington

—The U.S. Education Department announced Friday that it will cancel $39 billion in federal student loans for more than 800,000 borrowers who were enrolled in loan repayment plans based on their incomes, Times writer Arit John and Courtney Subramanian reported. The announcement came two weeks after the Supreme Court blocked President Biden’s plan to cancel up to $20,000 in loans for borrowers making less than $125,000 a year.

—A handful of senators are blocking the confirmation of dozens of highly regarded Biden administration ambassadorial appointments over largely partisan issues having nothing to do with the nominees’ qualifications, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said Monday, Times writer Tracy Wilkinson reported.

The latest from California

—California lawmakers on Thursday said the departures of high-profile Black female executives in Hollywood are a “troubling pattern,” especially because the state has extended its film and television tax credits, Times writer Queenie Wong reported.

—In recent months, an array of federal, state and local politicians — including several members of the City Council — have walked picket lines or offered support not just to Unite Here Local 11, the hotel workers union, but also TV and film writers marching outside studios and school workers demonstrating outside Los Angeles Unified campuses, Times writers David Zahniser and Julia Wick reported.

—Rep. Adam B. Schiff swamped his rivals in the financial race to replace retiring Sen. Dianne Feinstein, raising $8.2 million in recent months, according to federal fundraising reports released Saturday, Times writer Seema Mehta reported.

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