Sept. 30 (UPI) — Republican leadership of the U.S. House of Representatives on Saturday reversed course and offered a “clean” stopgap spending bill as only hours remained to avoid a government shutdown.
A vote on the measure was expected later in the day on the bill, which would allow current spending levels to continue for 45 days.
Previous stopgap measures have failed, and the federal government is scheduled to shutdown at 12:01 a.m. Sunday without a deal in place.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy spent Saturday morning meeting with his Republican colleagues aiming to gather support for the latest short-term measure. McCarthy has admitted his job as speaker is at stake with his support for a “clean” measure, which unlike previous versions does not contain measures sought by hardline GOP members such as additional border security funding.
The right-wing lawmakers have also pushed for deeper spending cuts in order to avoid the shutdown. Those cuts would include ending billions in foreign aid for Ukraine, which the stopgap measure continued to contain.
A McCarthy-backed measure failed by a 198-232 vote Friday with 21 Republicans joining Democrats in opposition.
“There’s only one person to blame for any potential government shutdown, and that’s Matt Gaetz. He’s not a conservative Republican. He’s a charlatan,” Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., said Friday.
Gaetz is an outspoken member of the far-right House Freedom Caucus.
House Democrats on Saturday were reviewing the proposal to see if any will support it, but the lack of funding for Ukraine appeared to be a major obstacle.
“It’s a huge problem” Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., told reporters Saturday afternoon.
“I think if we had a clean (bill) without Ukraine on it, we could probably be able to move that through,” McCarthy told reporters Friday.
“I think if the Senate puts Ukraine on there and focuses Ukraine over America, I think I think that could cause real problems.”
Republicans hold a four-seat majority in the House, meaning they would need either Democratic support or unanimous backing from the Freedom Caucus in order to pass any bill.
A total of 21 Republicans indicated Friday they would not support a stopgap bill as currently constituted.
The Senate passed its own stopgap measure on Thursday, by a 76-22 vote with House Republicans saying they would not support it.
A government shutdown would equate to federal workers being forced to work without pay. That includes vital positions like Border Patrol agents and employees of the Federal Aviation Administration.
