House cancels weekend votes, putting members on ‘standby’ as spending talks drag on
Cami Mondeaux
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The House canceled its plans to hold votes on a continuing resolution over the weekend due to a lack of support among GOP lawmakers, with leadership instructing members to remain on “standby” for any sudden changes to the schedule.
The announcement comes after a handful of GOP lawmakers sank a procedural vote on the annual defense spending bill for the second time this week, dealing a major blow to Republican leaders who hoped to get the appropriations through the lower chamber by the end of the week.
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After the rule was shot down, a group of hard-line conservative members met with Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) on Thursday afternoon to discuss a plan just one week ahead of the government shutdown deadline. These talks come after McCarthy unveiled a continuing resolution proposal to lawmakers during a closed-door meeting the night before, which angered some hard-line conservatives who remained adamant they would not support any stopgap measure.
House lawmakers indicated a change in plans to vote on all 12 appropriations bills separately rather than advancing a continuing resolution, throwing the chamber’s schedule in flux until a final agreement is made.
Lawmakers continued to meet throughout the afternoon, emphasizing nothing has been finalized but that “real progress” has been made, according to Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-SD).
Reps. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), Lauren Boebert (R-CO), Eli Crane (R-AZ), Scott Perry (R-PA), Tim Burchett (R-TN), and Marc Molinaro (R-NY) were seen in the whip’s office for a meeting on Thursday afternoon about a possible deal on government spending.
“We’ve got an idea,” Gaetz said while entering the room.
Details on such a plan were not provided.
Several Republicans expressed criticism after weekend votes were canceled, noting lawmakers should not be leaving Washington with just eight days until a possible government shutdown.
“I think we got to do our job. I think we got to stay here and do our job,” Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) said.
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It’s not clear how lawmakers plan to avert a shutdown ahead of the Sept. 30 deadline, with Roy saying the timetable is still in flux.
“Obviously, the timetable is very short,” Roy said. “And you know, getting stuff out of the House and then getting agreement with the Senate and so forth doesn’t seem highly likely. But there’s a number of options.”