House Speaker Kevin McCarthy expressed doubt on Wednesday that the Senate’s proposed continuing resolution to fund the government will gain traction in the House as the possibility of a shutdown becomes more likely.
Speaking to reporters, McCarthy stated, “I don’t see the support in the House” for the Senate bill.
In a bipartisan effort, the Senate revealed a stopgap funding measure on Tuesday to fund the government through Nov. 17. However, McCarthy’s comments suggest that this proposal may face obstacles in the House.
The Senate measure includes $6.2 billion in Ukraine aid and $6 billion for natural disasters, advancing a House-passed bill to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration. Some House Republicans, particularly members on the right-wing, have indicated their desire to include deep spending cuts and drop aid for Ukraine. The proposed bill would serve as a continuing resolution.
Responding to McCarthy’s stance, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer criticized him for allowing “MAGA radicals” to influence his decisions. Schumer argued that the bipartisan stopgap measure is “the only way to avoid a shutdown.”
House Republicans have also expressed their intention to push the White House and Democrats to devise a new plan for border security. McCarthy firmly stated that he would not support any continuing resolution without provisions for border security.
Rep. Bob Good of Virginia, a member of the House Freedom Caucus, informed reporters that McCarthy informed the GOP conference that he would not consider the Senate’s proposed continuing resolution. Other Republicans echoed similar sentiments, suggesting limited support within the Republican conference for the Senate CR.
“My sense is the Senate CR is dead on arrival,” stated GOP Rep. Dusty Johnson of South Dakota. “I just don’t get the sense that there’s any meaningful support in the Republican conference for that Senate CR.”
Both the White House and Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell have endorsed the Senate’s stopgap spending measure.
Meanwhile, McCarthy reiterated his plan to present a continuing resolution to the House on Friday, ahead of the Saturday night deadline to approve new funding. McCarthy’s measure would incorporate provisions for border security while eliminating funding for Ukraine.
McCarthy criticized the Senate proposal, saying, “If they want to put focus on Ukraine and not focus on the southern border, I think their priorities are backwards.”
With Republicans holding a slim majority in the House and Democrats opposing deep spending cuts, McCarthy can only afford to lose four votes when passing any bill. The support of Senate Republican leadership for the stopgap measure puts pressure on McCarthy, potentially requiring him to seek Democratic support for its approval. However, far-right members within his party have threatened to remove him should he pursue this course of action.
In an attempt to appease hard-line Republicans, the House advanced four bills on Tuesday funding the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security, State, and Agriculture for another year. However, even if these bills pass the House, they are unlikely to proceed in the Senate.
If both chambers fail to pass a bill funding the government by 11:59 p.m. on Saturday night, a government shutdown will occur. This would result in thousands of federal employees going without pay, and non-essential federal services would be suspended.
Ellis Kim and Alejandro Alvarez contributed to this report.
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