Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) led his conference in passing a 45-day stopgap measure that, if passed by the Senate and signed by President Joe Biden as expected, will avoid a government shutdown.
In a press conference after passing the continuing resolution, which funds the government for 45 days, McCarthy celebrated the win, but took a combative tone against those who blocked a conservative continuing resolution from passing the floor.
HOUSE PASSES 45-DAY CONTINUING RESOLUTION, SENDING BILL TO SENATE HOURS BEFORE SHUTDOWN
The passage of the clean stop-gap measure, which keeps spending at fiscal year 2023 levels, has $16 million for disaster relief, provides an extension for the Federal Aviation Administration, and no money for Ukraine, came just under 24 hours after the hardline Republicans shot down a conservative continuing resolution that would have cut government spending, provided for intensive border security measures, and created a fiscal commission to combat the country’s debt.
“We tried to pass the most conservative stopgap measure possible,” McCarthy said. “… We put it on the floor, but unfortunately, we didn’t have 218 Republicans that would vote for it to help us secure the border then.”
In the press conference, McCarthy referenced how he tried to pass all twelve appropriations bills — but members of his conference sought to block some of those bills from coming to the floor — and then he tried to pass a conservative continuing resolution — which members of his conference voted against. So, after both of those options failed amid the hardline conservative pushback, he chose to put a clean continuing resolution on the floor to ensure the government did not shut down.
“If you have members in your conference that won’t let you vote for appropriation bills, who don’t want an omnibus and won’t vote for a stopgap measure, so the only answer is to shut down and not pay our troops. I don’t want to be a part of that team,” McCarthy said. “I want to be a part of the conservative group that wants to get things done.”
He quoted Winston Churchill, saying, “You can always count on Americans to do what’s right after they’ve exhausted every other option,” as his reason for choosing to put a clean continuing resolution on the floor as a last attempt to avoid a shutdown.
But, putting the clean continuing resolution on the floor came at great political risk to McCarthy, who has had members of his conference, specifically Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), threaten his role as speaker if such a bill came to the floor.
Earlier this month, Gaetz said if McCarthy put a clean continuing resolution on the floor, it would be “shot, chaser. Continuing resolution, motion to vacate.”
In his remarks after the passage of the bill, McCarthy was defiant toward Gaetz, taunting him to try and oust him, saying, “If somebody wants to make a motion against me, bring it. There has to be an adult in the room.”
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His decision to put the measure on the floor despite the threat of a motion to vacate being held over his head was commended by members of his conference.
“He put his neck on the line to do the right thing for the country, the right thing for our conference, and I think the Congress,” Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK), the chairman of the Rules Committee, said. “He was willing to run a huge political risk to make sure that we didn’t shut down the government while we continue to work through the process. It was absolutely the right thing to do.”
