McCarthy Fails For 2nd Time To Advance Bill Funding Defense Department As Ukraine Sows Division
by Tyler Durden
This tweet by Mitch McConnell captures the essence of the raging disagreement and debate...
Politico has reported secret, urgent cross-aisle talks as follows: "Small groups of centrist Democrats are holding secret talks with several of McCarthy's close GOP allies about a last-ditch deal to fund the government, according to more than a half-dozen people familiar with the discussions."
The House voted 212-216 against moving the funding bill to a final vote: Axios
A small group of conservative holdouts are harping on the key controversial issues of Ukraine and the US border:
Generally, the bipartisan group is focusing on two major ideas: a procedural maneuver to force a vote on a compromise spending plan — or somehow crafting a bill so popular that McCarthy can pass it and survive any challenge from the right. That bill would likely be a bipartisan short-term patch with some disaster money, Ukraine aid and small-scale border policies, according to multiple people briefed on the talks who spoke on condition of anonymity.
And more of today's scrambling via Politico:
Two people familiar with those conversations pointed to New York Rep. Mike Lawler, who sits in one of the GOP's toughest battleground seats, as especially vocal in private meetings about threats to sign a discharge petition.
Asked if he sees an increasing chance of centrists from both parties teaming up as the stalemate continues, Lawler said that "I would like to see the House Republican majority govern" by passing a short-term patch that can start further talks with the Senate.
"But until that happens," he added, "we need to keep the government funded and operational. And my only comment to my colleagues is: If we want to govern, we need to do so expeditiously."