Paul Kirby reports in the Daily Freeman that Rep. Marc Molinaro said Sept. 26 that he is working closely with other Republicans to avoid a government shutdown. Currently, a group of ultra-conservative Republicans are rebuffing all efforts to compromise with Democrats on a plan that could pass both the House of Representatives and Senate and get signed by the president. But Molinaro, who represents the 19th Congressional District, says he can help solve the impasse, saying, “I have lived through it as a local official and I am certainly doing everything in my power to help push my colleagues toward avoiding one.... I have been heavily involved in intensive conversation to mold a consensus with the Republican majority to present a budget proposal that reigns in federal spending, meets the needs and respects taxpayers, and secures the border.” Some sort of spending bill must be passed by Oct. 1 to keep the federal government operating, but a deal seems unlikely. Democrat Pat Ryan represents the 18th Congressional District, and explained how Republicans are unlikely to pass a spending bill in time. Ryan said, “Laterally, from going back to the first days of this Congress, where it took 15 rounds for the Republicans to choose their leader, it’s been chaos, chaos, chaos.... This is really a continuation and sort of culmination of what chaos and division gets you with very real and very dangerous consequences for our district and the country.” Ryan suggests that if five Republicans in the House signed on to it in order to keep the government open a “discharge petition” could be passed that would cut House Speaker Kevin McCarthy out of negotiations and allow for the government to remain open while a budget deal could be made. Read more about this story in the Daily Freeman.