McCarthy embraces massive 70 percent cut to home heating assistance to appease MAGA caucus: report

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is reportedly embracing drastic measures to avoid a government shutdown, including a massive 70 percent cut to a program that provides assistance to lower income families who have trouble affording heat during the winter.

The Washington Post reports that McCarthy has decided to push through a number of cuts demanded by far-right members of his caucus with the hopes of getting enough votes to avoid a shutdown of the House over a spending bill – despite the fact that the proposed cuts would likely be doomed in the United States Senate.

In addition to the aforementioned cuts to home heating, the Post reports that the plan being put forth by Republicans also calls "for a roughly 80 percent cut to funding for schools that serve high concentrations of students in poverty," and would also "cut by at least half a fruit and vegetable benefit for poor pregnant mothers, which serves roughly 5 million people." There would also be "multibillion cuts to the National Institutes of Health, Head Start, and preschool grants."

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Even with all this, it's unclear if there would be enough votes for McCarthy to pass these drastic reductions, as Reps. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and Andy Biggs (R-AZ) have already said such cuts are not sufficient, reports the Post.

In addition to demanding cuts for programs benefiting low-income families, hardliners in the GOP caucus have also demanded that Congress defund special counsel Jack Smith's office, which is currently running two different criminal cases against former President Donald Trump.