CNN
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Speaker Kevin McCarthy sent his House members home without a clear plan after hard-liners at the Republican convention again blocked his spending plans, handing the GOP leadership a crushing defeat for the second time this week.
The Republican leader blasted his far-right wing for wanting to “burn the place” after conservatives. Dramatically toppled McCarthy and the GOP leadership In a procedural vote on the Pentagon funding bill, the House was completely deadlocked. Now, members are not set to return to session until Tuesday Shutdown is possible More will appear next weekend.
“It’s frustrating in the sense that I don’t understand why anyone would vote against bringing this idea up and having a debate,” McCarthy told reporters.
Thursday’s absentee ballot was marked Another blow to McCarthyWho under pressure and faced Threats of eviction. The derailed defense funding bill typically enjoys broad bipartisan support, a sign of how even normally controversial issues have become mired in Republican infighting.
Days of negotiations have yielded some apparent progress, but the speaker’s Republican opponents have thrown cold water on progress and openly defied his calls for unity. McCarthy’s thin edge in the room He can only lose four members without the support of Democrats for a majority vote — and the absence can raise and lower the majority threshold.
House Republicans had originally planned to stay in session through the weekend to pass a stop-gap government funding bill. But that strategy is now on ice amid infighting within the House GOP caucus, and House Republican leaders are sending members home for the week amid deep divisions, according to multiple GOP sources.
The new plan, according to several lawmakers and aides, requires Republicans to try to finish individual, long-term spending bills because their short-term funding bill lacks the necessary GOP votes amid stiff opposition.
But there is little chance that the work will be completed by the deadline for funding to expire next week. Additionally, those bills would die in the Senate, making it not a viable plan to avoid a shutdown.
Although no vote is expected by the end of the week, some lawmakers will continue to discuss next steps in Washington.
Wednesday evening, McCarthy briefed his conference behind closed doors In a new potential plan to keep the government open — with deep spending cuts and new border security measures — in an effort to win over wary members on his right.
The plan outlined by the speaker would keep the government open for 30 days with a $1.47 trillion spending cap, a debt relief commission and a border security package. Separately, they agreed to move annual fiscal bills by $1.53 trillion. That level falls short of the bipartisan deal the Speaker struck with the White House to raise the national debt ceiling.
It’s unclear whether Republicans can actually unify around the plan — but even if they do, it will likely be once it reaches the Senate, and it’s unlikely to be an option to actually prevent a shutdown.
On Thursday, a total of six Republicans voted against the ruling. Representatives Don Bishop of North Carolina, Andy Biggs of Arizona, Matt Rosendale of Montana, Eli Crane of Arizona and Marjorie Taylor Green of Georgia voted against the bill. House Rules Committee Chairman Tom Cole of Oklahoma eventually reversed his vote and voted against the rule so he could bring it up for reconsideration.
As the shutdown deadline quickly approaches, it’s unclear what action Congress will take next week.
However, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer took a procedural step Thursday that would allow the Senate to vote on a short-term government funding bill next week.
“As I’ve said for months, we must work in a bipartisan fashion to keep our government open, avoid a shutdown, and avoid causing unnecessary pain to the American people. This measure will give the Senate the option to do just that,” he said.
This story and topic have been updated with additional developments
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