House Speaker Kevin McCarthy had to lean on Democrats to avert a shutdown, and GOP senators defied Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Ukraine.
In the span of three hours, rank-and-file Republicans bucked House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, leaving both GOP leaders weakened Sunday heading into a critical legislative period.
So when the Senate GOP gathered at lunchtime Saturday for a roughly 90-minute meeting, McConnell delivered a pitch to rally support for the original plan - a funding plan that included $6 billion for Ukraine.His caucus overruled him. They preferred McCarthy’s plan to keep the government open by ditching the debate over Ukraine money until later this year.
“It’s all right that Republicans and Democrats joined to do what is right. If someone wants to make a motion [to remove me as speaker], bring it,” he told reporters at a news conference after the 335-91 vote. If Democrats decide to save McCarthy, they would probably seek some concessions - and the more the speaker concedes, the more Republicans will be agitated to toss him aside. McCarthy’s allies insist that Gaetz is a gadfly with no following, that the speaker will survive a vote to oust him. And that this process will make him stronger in the long run.
But McCarthy spent the entire summer and early fall acting like a leader very concerned about losing support on his far-right flank. He reneged on a budget-and-debt deal that he cinched with President Biden in May and ordered his lieutenants to cut more than $100 billion from the spending outline to meet conservative demands.
While McCarthy’s standing has been wobbly all year, McConnell has maintained staunch backing despite his health troubles.
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