Senate Republicans are predicting that Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) will need to reach out to House Democrats to get the votes to prevent a government shutdown at the end of next week.
GOP senators don’t think McCarthy will be able to unify his entire GOP conference behind any measure to prevent an Oct. 1 shutdown and will have to rely on Democrats to keep federal departments and agencies open.
But they predict the Speaker won’t reach out across the aisle until the last possible moment to avoid a backlash from House conservatives, who are threatening to offer a motion to essentially dump him as Speaker if he does not hew to their demands for major spending cuts.
The reality, they say, is that the only spending measure that can pass both the Senate and House is one that has bipartisan support.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Senate Republicans are predicting that Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) will need to reach out to House Democrats to get the votes to prevent a government shutdown at the end of next week.
Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), a member of the Appropriations Committee, voiced concern about the looming government funding deadline.
“I’m going to leave it up to him,” Graham said of McCarthy, adding, “The world is a very dangerous place, and we need to get our national defense infrastructure well funded to deter aggression.
The defense bill stalled in the House Tuesday after five conservatives joined Democrats to defeat the rule that was needed to pass the $826 billion measure.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said the demands of the House Freedom Caucus, such as cutting discretionary spending levels outside the departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs by 8 percent, are unrealistic.
Another Republican senator who requested anonymity to discuss McCarthy’s inability to pass spending bills suggested that conservative rebels are taking unfair shots at the Speaker to undermine his leadership.
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