House Speaker Kevin McCarthy privately delivered a message to Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell this week: The Senate’s bipartisan bill to keep the government open wouldn’t get a vote in his chamber unless significant changes are made.
And then when the speaker appeared before his conference on Wednesday morning, McCarthy relayed that same message and later made clear he wouldn’t put the Senate bill on the House floor, underscoring the divide between the two most powerful Republicans in Washington at a pivotal moment for the country and their party.
With just days left until government funding runs dry, the two men are at sharp odds as McCarthy is rejecting the deal McConnell cut with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and still trying to rely on House GOP votes to bolster his conference’s negotiating position.
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And then when the speaker appeared before his conference on Wednesday morning, McCarthy relayed that same message and later made clear he wouldn’t put the Senate bill on the House floor, underscoring the divide between the two most powerful Republicans in Washington at a pivotal moment for the country and their party.
With just days left until government funding runs dry, the two men are at sharp odds as McCarthy is rejecting the deal McConnell cut with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and still trying to rely on House GOP votes to bolster his conference’s negotiating position.
A number of Senate Republicans and Democrats alike are alarmed that McCarthy is pushing a plan that appears unlikely to pass his own chamber – and has no chance of becoming law – as top GOP lawmakers fear that the divisions within their own party would make it easier for the public to blame them for a damaging impasse.
In recent weeks, Senate GOP lawmakers have been critical of McCarthy’s decision to ignore a bipartisan debt ceiling law the speaker cut this summer that set spending levels for the government.
But under pressure from his right flank, which held the House floor hostage, McCarthy agreed to seek deeper cuts, putting him on a collision course with Republicans and Democrats alike in the Senate who are opposed to that effort.
Unlike when McConnell stayed on the sidelines during the debt ceiling fight and was content to let McCarthy take the reins, the Senate GOP leader worked with Schumer to negotiate a stopgap bill to extend current funding levels for 45 days.
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