With a possible partial government shutdown looming in two weeks amid what a senior Democrat called a Republican "civil war," House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Sunday vowed to bring a defense spending bill to a vote "win or lose" this week despite resistance from hardline fellow Republicans.

Hakeem Jeffries, the top House Democrat, faulted the Republicans who hold a narrow 221-212 majority in the chamber as they bicker over spending and pursue a new impeachment drive against President Joe Biden while the United States faces a possible fourth partial government shutdown in a decade.

"Let's be clear. House Republicans are in the middle of a civil war," Jeffries told ABC's “This Week” program, adding that the result has been "chaos, dysfunction and extremism" in Congress.

McCarthy is struggling to bring fiscal 2024 spending legislation to the House floor with Republicans fractured by hardline conservative demands for spending to be cut back to a 2022 level of $1.47 trillion - $120 billion below the spending that McCarthy agreed with Biden in May.

"What we should be focused on right now is avoiding an unnecessary government shutdown that will hurt the ability of our economy to continue to recover," Jeffries said.

McCarthy has also begun to face calls for floor action seeking his ouster from hardline conservatives and others who have accused him of failing to keep promises he made to become speaker in January following a revolt from some of the most conservative Republicans in the House.

 ..... 1 to avoid a partial shutdown by enacting appropriations bills that Biden, a Democrat, can sign into law, or by passing a short-term stop gap spending measure to give lawmakers more time for debate.

McCarthy signaled a tougher stand with hardliners, telling the Fox News "Sunday Morning Futures" program that he would bring the stalled defense bill to the floor this week. The House last week postponed a vote on beginning debate on the defense appropriations bill due to opposition from the hardliners.

 ..... 

McCarthy also said he wants to make sure there is no shutdown on Oct. 1, saying: "A shutdown would only give strength to the Democrats."

McCarthy has held closed-door discussions over the weekend aimed at overcoming a roadblock by the conservative hardliners to spending legislation. They want assurances that legislation will include their deep spending cuts, as well as conservative policy priorities including provisions related to tighter border security that are unlikely to secure Democratic votes.

"We made some good progress," McCarthy said.

Representative Elise Stefanik, the No. 4 House Republican, told the "Fox News Sunday" program that she was optimistic about moving forward on appropriations after closed-door discussions.

But Republican Representative Nancy Mace told ABC's “This Week” that she expects a shutdown and did not rule out support for a vote to oust McCarthy's ouster. Mace complained that the speaker has not made good on promises to her involving action on women's issues and gun violence.

"Everything's on the table at this point for me," Mace said.

Mace played down the consequences of a shutdown, saying much of the government would remain in operation and that the hiatus would give government workers time off with back pay at a later date.

Democratic former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that a shutdown would risk harming the most vulnerable members of society who depend on government assistance.

"We're talking about diminishing even something as simple and fundamental as feeding the children," Pelosi told MSNBC. "We have to try to avoid it."

In a major setback for U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, Republicans once again blocked a procedural vote on defense spending, increasing the risk of a government shutdown in just 10 days. The House of Representatives voted 216-212 against beginning debate on an $886 billion defense appropriations bill, with opposition coming from a small group of hardline conservative Republicans.

This failure comes at a crucial time, as federal agencies are set to shut down on October 1 unless Congress passes a short-term continuing resolution or a full-year funding bill. However, House Republicans have thus far failed to unify around either possibility, and the proposals they have considered have only gained support from within their own party, making them unlikely to succeed in the Democratic-majority Senate or be signed into law by President Joe Biden.

The inability of Republicans to reach a consensus has drawn criticism from Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who accused Speaker McCarthy of wasting time on extremist proposals that have no chance of becoming law. This sentiment was echoed by Representative Keith Self, who voted to advance the bill but expressed a lack of trust in McCarthy's leadership. Emotions were running high in the chamber as the motion failed.

Adding to McCarthy's challenges, former President Donald Trump called for a government shutdown, reminiscent of the three shutdowns that occurred during his tenure. Trump accused the Biden administration of weaponizing the government and called on Republicans to defund all aspects of Biden's policies. It is worth noting that Trump is currently facing four criminal trials, including two brought by federal prosecutors, and has claimed without evidence that they are politically motivated.

The political brinkmanship surrounding the spending negotiations has also caught the attention of Wall Street, with rating agency Fitch downgrading the U.S. debt rating earlier this year. Representative Rosa DeLauro, the top Democrat on the House appropriations panel, expressed her disappointment, stating that the unpredictability of the situation is detrimental to the country's ability to respond to the needs of the American people.

The root cause of the impasse lies within the Republican caucus, where a small group of hardline conservatives is demanding assurances that fiscal 2024 appropriations will not exceed the 2022 top line of $1.47 trillion. This amount is $120 billion less than what McCarthy and Biden agreed to in May. A bipartisan group known as the "Problem Solvers Caucus" proposed a measure to fund the government through January 11, but it remains unclear if the measure will advance without McCarthy's support.

McCarthy had previously proposed a 30-day continuing resolution that would cut spending to the 2022 level and include a commission to tackle the federal debt, as well as conservative restrictions on immigration and the border. However, it is uncertain how much support this proposal would garner from House Republicans.

The situation is further complicated by McCarthy's need to balance the demands of hardline conservatives with the broader goals of the Republican Party. McCarthy, who is facing the biggest challenge of his speakership, is trying to avoid a government shutdown without losing his position as the top Republican in Congress.

 ..... However, if the House fails to move forward on spending, Republican leaders may be forced to negotiate directly with Senate Democrats on appropriations bills, bypassing the hardline conservatives. ..... 

The stakes are high for McCarthy, who is already facing the threat of ouster. Some House Republicans fear that his decision to open an impeachment inquiry into Biden could hinder cooperation on spending from Democrats. ..... 

As the deadline for a government shutdown looms, the fate of spending legislation remains uncertain. While the House continues to grapple with internal divisions, the risk of a government shutdown becomes increasingly real, with potentially dire consequences for both the American people and the political future of Speaker McCarthy.

Republican U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy warned members of his caucus on Thursday that they could suffer a political toll if they allow the government to shut down early next month amid a fight over spending.

"Nobody wins in a government shutdown," McCarthy told reporters following a closed-door party meeting.

McCarthy said that after this weekend he plans to keep the House in session until it passes funding to keep the government funded past Sept. 30, when its current funding expires.

The federal government would enter its fourth shutdown in a decade beginning on Oct. 1 unless the Republican-controlled House and Democratic Senate can pass a long- or short-term funding bill and Democratic President Joe Biden signs it into law.

Members of the hardline Republican House Freedom Caucus and other conservatives have vowed not to support spending measures until McCarthy agrees to limit fiscal 2024 spending to a 2022 level of $1.47 trillion, $120 billion below the level he agreed to with Biden in May.

Republican Representative Don Bacon, a moderate voice in the caucus, sounded a similar note.

"It's a mistake to shut down the government," Bacon said. "It's so shortsighted to be pushing for a shutdown. So whatever I can do to stop it I am."

https://tmsnrt.rs/44UiaHX

Political brinkmanship already has prompted the Fitch rating agency to downgrade U.S. debt to AA+ from its top-notch AAA designation, partly because of repeated down-to-the-wire negotiations that threaten the government's ability to pay its bills.

WASHINGTON -

U.S. ..... 

It represented a setback for McCarthy the morning after his fractious 221-212 majority met for 2-1/2 hours seeking common ground on legislation to avert the fourth government shutdown in a decade beginning October 1.

As the vote failed, McCarthy told reporters that he will pursue the "same strategy I had from January: just keep working; never give up."

 ..... 

"Instead of decreasing the chance of a shutdown, Speaker McCarthy is actually increasing it by wasting time on extremist proposals that cannot become law in the Senate," top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer said.

The bill had been scheduled for a five-minute vote that Republicans kept open for over a half hour in a vain hope of winning additional votes.

Republican Representative Keith Self, who had voted to advance the bill, said the motion's failure showed a lack of trust in McCarthy's leadership.

"It's a matter of trust," Self told reporters while declining to elaborate. Asked about the mood in the chamber, Self said: "There were emotions running high."

Donald Trump, the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, added to McCarthy's distractions with a call to shut the government, as occurred three times during his four years in the White House.

"Republicans in Congress can and must defund all aspects of Crooked Joe Biden's weaponized Government that refuses to close the Border, and treats half the Country as Enemies of the State," the former president said on his Truth Social platform.

Trump is awaiting four criminal trials, including two brought by federal prosecutors, over charges including his attempts to overturn his 2020 election defeat. He has claimed without evidence that all four prosecutions are politically motivated.

 ..... 

"The unpredictability is sad for the country," said Representative Rosa DeLauro, top Democrat on the House appropriations panel. "They have stopped our ability to respond to the needs of the American people."

The Republican spending agenda has run afoul of a small group of Republican hardline conservatives, who want assurances that fiscal 2024 appropriations will not exceed a 2022 top line of $1.47 trillion, $120 billion less than McCarthy and Biden agreed to in May.

 ..... 

McCarthy on Tuesday had to pull a procedural vote on a proposed 30-day CR. Then a vote to open floor debate on the defense appropriations bill failed. The defense bill had already been delayed earlier in the month.

McCarthy has proposed a 30-day CR that would cut spending to the 2022 level, according to two sources familiar with the discussion. The CR would include a commission to tackle the federal debt and conservative restrictions on immigration and the border.

McCarthy's proposal would also set a top line for full-year fiscal 2024 spending at just under $1.53 trillion, the sources said. That is still $60 billion less than he agreed to with Biden in May.

It was not clear how much support the CR or the 2024 top line would draw from House Republicans.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is facing opposition from hardline Republicans as a possible partial government shutdown looms in two weeks. McCarthy has vowed to bring a defense spending bill to a vote this week, regardless of the outcome. Senior Democrat Hakeem Jeffries criticized the Republicans in the House, accusing them of engaging in a "civil war" and causing chaos and dysfunction in Congress. The Republicans are divided over spending and pursuing a new impeachment drive against President Joe Biden, while also facing the possibility of a government shutdown.

 ..... This is $120 billion below the agreed spending level with Biden in May. Jeffries emphasized the importance of avoiding a government shutdown that would harm the economy's recovery.

McCarthy is also facing calls for his ouster from hardline conservatives who accuse him of breaking promises made when he became speaker in January. The House and Senate have until October 1 to pass appropriations bills or a short-term spending measure to avoid a partial shutdown. McCarthy has taken a tougher stance with hardliners, stating that he will bring the defense bill to the floor this week.

McCarthy held closed-door discussions over the weekend to overcome opposition from conservative hardliners to spending legislation. They are seeking assurances that the legislation will include their desired spending cuts and conservative policy priorities, including tighter border security. Representative Elise Stefanik expressed optimism about moving forward on appropriations after the discussions, while Representative Nancy Mace did not rule out support for a vote to oust McCarthy. Mace criticized the speaker for not fulfilling promises regarding women's issues and gun violence.

McCarthy warned members of his caucus that they could face political consequences if they allow a government shutdown. ..... The Fitch rating agency has already downgraded U.S. debt due to political brinkmanship and the repeated last-minute negotiations that threaten the government's ability to pay its bills.

Both sides acknowledge the negative impact of a government shutdown. McCarthy and other Republicans express concern about the short-sightedness of pushing for a shutdown, while Democrats, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, warn of the harm it could cause to vulnerable members of society who depend on government assistance. Efforts are being made to avoid a shutdown and find a resolution to the spending dispute.