The House of Representatives was expected to be out of action for the next four days after House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s latest attempt to pass a defense spending bill (and break the Republican impasse over funding of the government) will explode on Thursday.
With both Houses of Congress expected to return Tuesday after a break over the weekend and the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, they will have just five days to avoid a partial shutdown that many in Washington now see as inevitable.
McCarthy (R-Calif.) had expressed optimism Thursday morning that House Republicans were close to making a breakthrough on a stopgap spending measure that would keep the government fully operational after Sept. 30. A day earlier, he had said that he would plan to keep the House in session on Friday and Saturday to allow work to continue.
But the speaker got a reality check after a vote to begin debating an $886 billion defense appropriations measure failed 216 to 212: the second time in three days the attempt had been blocked and the third time since McCarthy took office in January that he had lost. a rules vote.
Matt Gaetz has quickly become the president’s main antagonist in the spending fight. fake images
Six Republicans — Andy Biggs of Arizona, Dan Bishop of North Carolina, Tom Cole of Oklahoma, Eli Crane of Arizona, Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Matt Rosendale of Montana — joined 210 Democrats to defeat the test vote.
Currently, McCarthy can only lose four Republican votes and still pass a bill with only Republican support.
“This is a completely new concept of individuals who just want to burn the whole place down. That doesn’t work,” McCarthy told reporters after the vote.
I just voted NO on the Defense bill rule because they refused to take the war money for Ukraine and put it in a separate bill.
And 55% of Americans and 71% of Republican voters agree with me that we should stop funding a war in Ukraine.
– Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 (@RepMTG) September 21, 2023
“This is painful. It gives me a headache. “This is a very difficult series of mistakes on the part of our conference,” Rep. Steve Womack (R-Ark.) told Politico. “If you can’t do [the defense bill]What can you do?”
Republican rebels, led by McCarthy foe Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), want to see progress on separate appropriations bills before lending their votes to any stopgap measures, known as CRs in Washington parlance.
A compromise proposal presented by House Republicans on Sunday night called for 8% spending cuts from current levels (except for the Pentagon, Veterans Affairs and disaster relief) in exchange for keeping government open until October 31. But the rebels have not been impressed.
Marjorie Taylor Greene has been unwavering in her demands that funding for Ukraine be removed from a spending deal.Getty Images
“We should pass our appropriations bills right now.” Greene told Fox News. “We’ve wasted an entire week trying to buy four more weeks. It is still not enough time and we will soon return to the same situation.”
“I just wish they would take the same amount of energy and effort and put it into developing appropriations bills as they are developing in this bogus CR.” added Rosendale.
“CRs are like Lay’s fries” Gaetz said. “It seems like you can never stop at just one. And this is like the CR gateway that they [House leadership] I want to pass. They want to do a 30 day CR and then that will lead to another CR and then that will lead to a blanket bill. That’s the muscle memory of this town for the last seven years. I’m sick of this.”
President Kevin McCarthy has begun lashing out more frequently at those in his caucus who challenge him. REUTERS
Those resisting have also been emboldened by former President Donald Trump, who on Wednesday night demanded Republicans “defund all aspects of corrupt Joe Biden’s armed government.”
“This is also the last chance to defund these political prosecutions against me and other patriots,” Trump wrote in Truth Social. “They failed on the debt limit, but they must not fail now. Use the power of the stock market and defend the country!
House Democrats oppose defense bill over provisions banning Pentagon spending on training involving critical race theory, eliminating the Defense Department’s chief diversity officer position and banning entertainment of drag at military sites, among other hot topics.
This isn’t Kevin McCarthy’s first rodeo. He has emerged victorious from past GOP battles over the presidency and the debt ceiling. AP
Republican dissidents cited provisions expanding support for Ukraine as their reason for opposing the bill on the same day that Kiev President Volodymyr Zelensky proposed greater support to lawmakers.
“I just voted NO on the Defense bill rule because they refused to take war money for Ukraine and put it in a separate bill,” Greene posted on social media. “And 55% of Americans and 71% of Republican voters agree with me that we should stop funding a war in Ukraine.”
Before the defense bill vote, McCarthy’s team was reportedly considering a stopgap bill that would fund the entire government for $1.471 trillion and include a commission to cut spending, a proposal that would almost certainly have been a failure for Senate Democrats.
Meanwhile, the Senate has yet to pass any of the 12 appropriations bills and is at odds with the House on the headline numbers.
Chuck Schumer said House Republicans were insulting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during his trip to Ukraine by refusing additional aid.
On Wednesday, the upper house once again failed to advance the so-called “minibus” package of three spending bills to fund agriculture and military construction, transportation and housing, and the Department of Veterans Affairs.
In May, debt ceiling negotiators agreed to cap spending at $1.59 trillion, but hardline Republicans have been discussing that concession for months.
They are seeking revenue levels closer to the $1.471 trillion mark, which was the base level of discretionary spending for fiscal year 2022. It was also the GOP’s opening bid on the debt ceiling issue.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn