In a new sign that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) is losing his ability to manage his majority caucus, the House devolved in to shouting and cries for "regular order!" after a key vote failed, reported The Messenger on Tuesday.
"A House vote on a procedural rule that would have allowed amendments and debate on the defense appropriations bill failed, 212-214," reported Lindsey McPhebyrson and Warren Rojas. "The five ultraconservatives who voted against the rule – Andy Biggs of Arizona, Dan Bishop of North Carolina, Ken Buck of Colorado, Ralph Norman of South Carolina and Matt Rosendale of Montana – have been engaged in a larger blockade on all appropriations measures as they seek deeper spending cuts."
According to the report, even some far-right lawmakers who voted with McCarthy are blaming him for the impasse. "Many of us have been telling the speaker he needs to show us the entire puzzle and his commitment to getting to the pre-COVID spending levels," said Rep. Bob Good (R-VA), who voted to advance the rule. "We wanted to see that commitment for the entire package. If he would have done that, that would have passed. It's the speaker's failure."
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This comes amid reporting that House Republicans are punting on a major vote on a 30-day continuing resolution with steep spending cuts, with just 11 days left to avert a shutdown and a lack of support from the Senate or the White House for McCarthy's plan.
McCarthy, for his part, has been begging his caucus to get on board with his plan despite the seeming hopelessness of it passing, telling them that the GOP will "hit a tree" if they fail to keep the government open.
Amid all of this, the Speaker is facing escalating threats from the extreme faction of the GOP of a vote to vacate his chair, which would potentially cripple the House's ability to pass anything in the time it would take to either re-confirm him or select a new Speaker. Raw Story exclusively reported that a copy of a motion by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) to vacate the chair was found discarded in a restroom in the Capitol.
