Republican leaders in the House are expressing optimism about a possible breakthrough within their conference over government spending after Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) spent two and a half hours in a closed-door meeting with rank-and-file lawmakers to continue negotiations.
The House will reconvene to vote to begin debate on the annual defense appropriations bill after a handful of GOP defectors sank the bill earlier this week, marking the first sign of progress on spending legislation since Congress returned from recess last week.
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“We had a great discussion. I think we’ve got a plan to move forward going to DOD [appropriations] and then going to a number of other appropriations bills,” McCarthy said.
The House shot down a vote to begin debate on the annual defense appropriations bill on Tuesday after five Republicans joined all Democrats in sinking the measure, falling short of the majority threshold needed to advance the legislation. However, at least two of those holdouts, Reps. Bob Good (R-VA) and Ralph Norman (R-SC), confirmed they will back the bill when it returns to the floor on Thursday.
McCarthy also indicated progress toward a temporary spending agreement to keep the government funded ahead of the Sept. 30 deadline, after which federal funding will lapse if a deal is not passed. Republicans announced a deal Sunday night that would keep the government funded throughout October and bring spending to $1.59 trillion, the spending level set in the bipartisan debt ceiling deal signed into law in June.
However, more than a dozen conservatives came out against the deal, prompting an emergency meeting with the House majority whip’s office on Wednesday morning to discuss a path forward. McCarthy unveiled a proposal during the meeting, which several members, such as Norman, said had swayed their opinion on supporting a continuing resolution.
The deal includes an agreed-upon top-line spending number from House leadership of $1.526 trillion for the House’s appropriations bill; the continuing resolution would be at the $1.471 trillion level.
The biggest piece is the agreed-upon top-line number from leadership, something that hard-line conservatives have been calling for in order to support the continuing resolution or the rule on spending bills.
They had previously blocked the rule on the defense appropriations bill on Tuesday because McCarthy had not agreed to a top-line. But, this would allow them to support the rule, and some of the holdouts are expressing they now plan to vote for it.
The continuing resolution would also include H.R. 2, the House’s border security bill, and a fiscal commission to look at how to reduce the government’s debt.
“This is a culmination of a lot of us working behind the scenes with members that had concerns with spending levels, policy levels,” said Rep. Kevin Hern (R-OK). “And so I think that, you know, leadership brought the people together. I also think that the whip team has done a great job of having these meetings put together.”
While some holdouts, such as Norman and Good, came out of the conference meeting in support of the proposed measure, others were still against it.
Reps. Tim Burchett (R-TN) and Dan Bishop (R-NC) expressed they were still a “no” vote. Burchett said he does not think a stopgap measure is a proper way to fund government and wants to do individual appropriations bills.
“We’re very close there,” McCarthy said when asked if he had enough GOP support to succeed. “I feel like [we] just got a little more movement to go there.”
It’s unclear how much support the new proposal has among House Republicans or whether it can pass with their slim four-vote majority. Some members emerged from the conference meeting angry with the latest proposition, with Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) saying at least seven Republicans would still vote against it.
“There are still some that have to be convinced, but they will have to be talked to one on one and make a decision,” Norman said. “I don’t think they’ll bring it up if they don’t have the votes.”
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Even if it passes the House, the continuing resolution will not become law, as it will not pass the Democratic-controlled Senate or the White House.
It’s unclear when the House plans to reconvene to vote on the legislation, though members were advised on Tuesday afternoon to keep their schedules “flexible” over the coming days, with a possibility lawmakers may need to meet over the weekend for votes.
