The House of Representatives will be adjourned for the next four days after House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s attempt to pass a defense spending bill failed on Thursday. With Congress expected to return on Tuesday and only five days left to avoid a partial government shutdown, many in Washington now see one as inevitable.
McCarthy had expressed optimism earlier in the day about reaching a breakthrough on a stopgap spending measure, but a test vote on a $886 billion defense appropriations measure failed 216-212. Six Republicans joined with 210 Democrats to defeat the vote.
The Republican dissidents, led by Rep. Matt Gaetz, have been pushing for progress on separate appropriations bills before supporting any stopgap measure, and have been highly critical of McCarthy’s “pathetic” and “low energy” approach.
As House members were working on spending bills, @SpeakerMcCarthy was telling people to go home for the weekend at 3pm on a Thursday.
Pathetic. Low Energy. This is why we are where we are.
Any progress we are making is in spite of, not due to McCarthy. https://t.co/40GETHCHaA
— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) September 21, 2023
Former president Donald Trump has also weighed in, calling on Republicans to “defund all aspects of Crooked Joe Biden’s weaponized Government.”
House Democrats oppose the defense bill due to provisions including scrapping Critical Race Theory (CRT) training, abolishing the post of Chief Diversity Officer at the Defense Department, and banning drag shows at military sites.
The Senate, where the Democrats are in control, is yet to pass any appropriations bills, and disagrees with the House on top-line spending levels.
