A government shutdown loomed Friday evening, after a day in which House Republicans floated a funding plan that was shot down by 21 conservatives.
Most government operations will stop at midnight Sunday unless a funding deal is struck Friday night or Saturday.
House Republicans on Friday morning rolled out a stopgap funding measure, which passed an early procedural vote but was scuttled by conservative opposition in a vote at midday. The bill did not stand a chance in the Senate, where Democrats were sure to line up against it. And the White House on Friday morning issued a veto threat against it.
The Senate on Thursday advanced its own stopgap funding bill, but is likely to need until Sunday for final passage. On Friday, Senate Republicans debated proposing a clean bill that extends the government’s funding for a handful of days to allow for more negotiations.
Lawmakers in both chambers are sounding increasingly pessimistic.
Follow along with live updates below.
In a shift, McCarthy floats a clean stopgap without Ukraine aid
Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) on Friday evening floated passing a “clean” continuing resolution without Ukraine aid, marking a clear shift in the possibilities he is willing to consider to avert — or end — a shutdown after being repeatedly undercut by his own party.
The Speaker on Friday did not commit to putting such a measure on the floor, and other Republicans leaving a conference meeting said lawmakers are still exploring GOP-only possibilities to bring up for a vote on Saturday.
But it is clear that McCarthy has nearly exhausted his options for working exclusively within his own party. Earlier on Friday, 21 House Republicans voted against a 31-day GOP-crafted stopgap bill that included deep spending cuts and conservative border policy changes.
— Emily Brooks and Mychael Schnell
Overheard: Here’s what GOP lawmakers are saying
Republicans have been meeting for more than two hours after their failed vote on a short-term spending bill. Here’s some of what they’ve told us:
Rep. Steve Womack (R-Ark.), an appropriator: “I think it’s pretty safe to say that tomorrow at midnight the lights are gonna go out for a while.”
Conservative Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.): “I think the Speaker has basically surrendered to the Senate… I think he’s gonna do the Senate one.”
Moderate Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y.): “It’s just frustrating that 21 people who claim to be conservatives would side with the socialist squad and the Democrats to tank a plan that was very conservative.”
House cancels recess
House leadership has canceled a two-week recess that was supposed to start next week as a shutdown becomes increasingly likely.
Jeffries: House vote on Senate CR is ‘only way forward’
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said Friday the “only way forward” amid the looming government shutdown is for the House to vote on the Senate’s bipartisan continuing resolution — a move Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) ruled out earlier this week.
The ultimatum came minutes after a coalition of conservatives tanked the House GOP’s stopgap bill, nudging the government closer to a shutdown ahead of Saturday night’s funding deadline.
“The Senate bipartisan continuing resolution will emerge in that institution in the next few days and be sent over to the House of Representatives,” Jeffries said at a Friday press conference. “The only way forward is for House Republicans to put the bipartisan continuing resolution that emerges from the Senate on the House floor for an up or down vote.”
“If House Republicans were to do that we can avoid a catastrophic, extreme MAGA Republican government shutdown,” he continued. “It’s not that complicated.”
— Mychael Schnell
Senate Republicans eye short-term funding bill without Ukraine money
Senate Republicans are discussing a short-term government funding measure, perhaps lasting only two weeks, that would not include any significant money for Ukraine or disaster relief as part of a last-ditch effort to avoid a government shutdown.
Senate Republicans at lunch debated proposing a clean two-week continuing resolution (CR) to buy more times for themselves to draft a border security amendment.
“There’s the idea of a short-term two-week CR,” said one Republican senator who attended the Friday lunch meeting. “It would have the salutary effect of keeping the government going.”
Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.) said he thought Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) would take the two-week CR “to the floor shortly to see how it flies.”
— Alexander Bolton and Al Weaver
White House takes a swipe at McCarthy as GOP funding bill fails: ‘So close’
Van Orden places blame for shutdown on GOP holdouts
Rep. Derrick Van Orden (Wis.) placed the blame for the shutdown squarely on the 21 conservatives.
“There are 21 Republicans who just voted to defund the United States military and keep the border open. … They need to be called out by name,” he said. “I mean, this is not a Republican shutdown. This is a shutdown – If we don’t get this done soon – that is caused by 21 individual members of the Republican conference.”
Republican Study Committee chair sees two options for House GOP
Republican Study Committee Chair Kevin Hern (R-Okla.) says he sees two options for House Republicans.
Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) could put a bipartisan continuing resolution (CR) on the floor for a vote, “which would be very challenging.” Or the House could wait for the Senate to pass and send over its bipartisan CR “and then negotiate from there.”
McCarthy had previously ruled out both options.
Democrats respond to failed funding vote
Lawler turns ire toward Gaetz
Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.), a moderate, turned his ire on Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) after the failed vote to pass a stopgap funding measure.
“There’s only one person to blame for any potential government shutdown, and that’s Matt Gaetz. He’s not a conservative Republican. He’s a charlatan,” Lawler said.
These 21 Republicans voted against the GOP short-term funding plan
- Andy Biggs (Ariz.)
- Dan Bishop (N.C.)
- Lauren Boebert (Colo.)
- Ken Buck (Colo.)
- Tim Burchett (Tenn.)
- Eric Burlison (Mo.)
- Michael Cloud (Texas)
- Eli Crane (Ariz.)
- Matt Gaetz (Fla.)
- Paul Gosar (Ariz.)
- Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.)
- Wesley Hunt (Texas)
- Nancy Mace (S.C.)
- Mary Miller (Ill.)
- Cory Mills (Fla.)
- Alex Mooney (W.Va.)
- Barry Moore (Ala.)
- Troy Nehls (Texas)
- Andy Ogles (Tenn.)
- Matt Rosendale (Mont.)
- Keith Self (Texas)
McCarthy’s strategy: ‘Keep going’
Leaving the chamber after the vote, Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said his strategy is to “keep going.”
Shortly after, one of his key allies, Rep. Garret Graves (R-La.) was seen hustling into McCarthy’s office. Graves did not say anything to the gathered reporters.
House conservatives tank GOP short-term funding bill
A band of House conservatives on Friday voted down a GOP bill to avoid a government shutdown.
The vote marked a significant — and embarrassing — defeat for Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) as a shutdown this weekend appears increasingly inevitable.
Twenty-one Republicans joined Democrats in opposing the legislation, bringing the final tally to 198-232. The measure advanced in a party-line vote earlier on Friday.
— Mychael Schnell
Greene a ‘no’ on stopgap funding bill
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) says she will vote against the GOP’s short-term funding measure, adding to the list of conservatives lining up against the measure.
In the narrow House majority, just a handful of Republican “no” votes could sink the bill.
A final vote on the CR is expected shortly.
Bishop says he’ll vote against GOP funding plan
Rep. Dan Bishop (R-N.C.) told reporters on early Friday that he intends to vote against his party’s short-term funding plan.
“Yeah, I’m gonna vote against silly stuff,” he told reporters when asked if he planned to oppose the measure.
“Everybody’s saying there’s something urgent, why would we pass a bill that has features in it that everybody knows that’s not gonna be taken up?” he said. “How does that get us through an urgency?”
The measure advanced past a procedural hurdle earlier Friday, but conservatives threaten to sink final passage.
Gaetz says he will be ‘no’ on passing CR despite voting to advance it
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), one of the eight conservatives who expressed opposition to House Republicans’ short-term funding proposal, said he voted in favor of advancing the legislation “so I can vote against this bad CR.”
The CR overcame a procedural hurdle on a party-line vote, but Gaetz said it “does not have the votes to pass.”
House Republicans advance stopgap bill to avoid government shutdown
House Republicans on Friday advanced a GOP-crafted stopgap bill to avoid a government shutdown, clearing a key procedural hurdle even as some hardline Republicans opposed the legislation.
The chamber voted 218-210 along party lines to kick off debate on the measure and tee up a final vote expected Friday afternoon.
The successful procedural vote marks an incremental win for Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who has worked to coalesce his conference around a short-term funding patch in order to increase the conference’s leverage in funding negotiations with Democrats in the Senate and the White House.
McCarthy, however, is not in the clear just yet as a number of conservatives line up against the bill.
— Mychael Schnell
McCarthy aims dig at GOP holdouts
Speaker Kevin McCarthy Friday morning made a dig not only at Democrats, but at GOP holdouts on a stopgap bill that the House is set to vote on today, which includes a swath of border policy changes.
“Every member will have to go on record with where they stand. Are they willing to secure the border or do they side with President Biden on an open border?”
House CR whip list
The Hill’s Emily Brooks compiled a list of House Republicans who either say they’ll vote “no” today on the GOP’s short-term funding bill or are leaning that way.
They include:
- Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.)
- Eli Crane (R-Ariz.)
- Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.)
- Cory Mills (R-Fla.)
- Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.)
- Matt Rosendale (R-Mont.)
- Wesley Hunt (R-Texas)
- Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Texas)
Republicans can only lose four votes, assuming full attendance.
Conservative opposition imperils GOP bill to avoid shutdown
The House on Friday is poised to vote on a measure to prevent a government shutdown, but opposition from within the GOP puts its passage at risk.
The conservative pushback also undercuts Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) as he seeks to fund the government and unite his party after weeks of turmoil.
At least eight House Republicans are against or are leaning against the short-term funding stopgap.
With Democrats expected to universally oppose it, Republicans can afford to lose only four votes, assuming full attendance.
— Emily Brooks
Here’s what’s in the latest GOP stopgap proposal
House Republicans early Friday unveiled their latest proposal for a short-term funding stopgap.
It includes:
- Government funding through the end of October
- Across the board cuts of about 30 percent – with exemptions for national defense, the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Homeland Security, and for funding designated disaster relief
- A chunk of the party’s signature border bill, known as H.R. 2, which would boost wall construction, hiring of border agents and restrict access to asylum, among other measures
- Establishment of a fiscal commission that would identify solutions to achieve what it called a “sustainable debt-to-GDP ratio” and to balance the federal budget
- Changes to improve solvency for some programs, such as Medicare and Social Security
— Aris Folley and Emily Brooks
House Rules panel advances GOP stopgap funding bill
The House Rules Committee advanced the House GOP’s stopgap bill in a party-line vote on Friday morning, preparing it to come to the floor later in the day.
The bill would extend government funding until Oct. 31 with deep spending cuts for the duration, along with a swath of border policy changes and creation of a commission to examine the national debt.
But it is unclear if the bill will pass the House due to GOP opposition – and even if it does, it is dead on arrival in the Democratic-controlled Senate, which is advancing its own stopgap measure.
— Emily Brooks
Dianne Feinstein dies at age 90
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), one of the Senate’s most prominent women, has died at the age of 90, a person with knowledge of her passing confirmed.
Feinstein served three decades as a senator from California, becoming an icon and a trailblazer in the process.
A former mayor of San Francisco, Feinstein is the longest-serving member of the Senate Democratic conference and during her Senate tenure left a mark on a range of issues, including national security and gun control.
— Alexander Bolton
Lawmakers say government shutdown appears inevitable
A government shutdown increasingly looks inevitable as GOP opponents of a stopgap in the Senate seek to drag out the process ahead of a midnight Sunday deadline.
Opponents of the Senate stopgap, which is backed by leaders in both parties, are delaying a vote to give the House a chance to pass its own continuing resolution to fund government.
Senate conservatives want to give Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) more leverage to negotiate spending cuts and changes to immigration policy, leverage that would diminish if the Senate jams the House by moving first and passing a relatively clean stopgap.
“It’s hard to see that we would get everything done by Saturday night,” said Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.).
— Alexander Bolton