The House was unable Tuesday to bring up a Republican-backed defense spending bill for debate after five hardline conservatives voted with Democrats to override the procedural vote.
In a blow to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), the lower house voted 214-212 to kill a so-called “rules vote” on the $886 billion Pentagon spending bill amid divisions within the party over how to deal with the government’s towering closure and questions about the Speaker of the House’s efforts to reduce spending.
Representatives Matt Rosendale (R-Mont.), Ralph Norman (R-SC), Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), Dan Bishop (R-NC) and Ken Buck (R-Colo.) voted to defeat the measure.
This is the second time since McCarthy took over the speakership in January that a rule vote has failed.
Prior to McCarthy’s tenure, November 2002 was the last time such a vote failed to pass the House.
Republicans who oppose the measure argue that GOP leadership has not assured them that the fiscal year 2024 appropriations will not exceed the spending limits McCarthy negotiated with President Biden in May.
The House was unable Tuesday to bring up a Republican-backed defense spending bill for debate after five hardline conservatives voted with Democrats to override the procedural vote. Graeme Sloan/Sipa USA
“I have rejected the rule – as I promised – because the Conference continues to not move twelve appropriations bills at the level of spending agreed in January,” Bishop said in a tweet.
“I think the leadership trusts me now.
“For months, I’ve made it clear that in order for me to support an appropriations bill, we need to see the total value of all 12 bills,” Rosendale said in a tweet.
“Leadership has yet to give us that amount, which is why I’m voting against the rules this evening! Why are they keeping it a secret?”
McCarthy expressed disbelief in GOP opposition to open debate on the bill.
In a blow to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), the lower house voted 214-212 to kill a so-called “rule vote” on the $886 billion Pentagon spending bill.Getty Images
“Ask those five people why they voted against it,” he told reporters after the failed vote.
“Think about what they’re up against. They voted against even bringing the bill to have a discussion on it for a vote. If you are against the bill, vote against the bill at the end.”
“You can change it if you don’t like it. But the idea that you’re voting against the rules, even to bring them up, that doesn’t make sense to me,” McCarthy added.
House and Senate leaders are scrambling to pass 12 appropriations bills by January 1, 2024, to avoid a 1% across-the-board cut in federal spending.
McCarthy had proposed passing a 30-day continuing resolution to keep the government funded until the end of October and resume debate on the 2024 funding bill, but the House speaker delayed a procedural vote on the stopgap measure before voting on Tuesday’s failed rule on the defense spending bill.
Representatives Matt Rosendale (R-Mont.), Ralph Norman (R-SC), Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), Dan Bishop (R-NC) and Ken Buck (R-Colo.) voted to defeat the measure. ZUMAPRESS.com
The proposed continuing resolution would fund the government through Oct. 31, cut discretionary spending by about 8% for agencies outside of defense, veterans affairs and disaster relief, and it faces opposition from more than a dozen Republican stalwarts who say it doesn’t go away . far enough to curb expenses.
Despite McCarthy’s hardline win, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has called the proposal a “non-starter” in the upper chamber.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
