House Republicans on Tuesday advanced four full-year spending bills, handing Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) a small win but doing little to stave off a government shutdown at the end of the month.
The chamber voted 216-212 to begin consideration of spending measures to fund the Department of Defense; Department of Homeland Security; Department of State and foreign operations; and the Department of Agriculture, rural development and Food and Drug Administration.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) was the lone GOP “no” vote.
Her opposition did not come as a surprise: ahead of the vote, she said she was a “hard no” on the rule because two of the spending bills include funding for Ukraine.
McCarthy initially said he would remove the Ukraine aid from the Pentagon funding bill and hold a separate vote on it, but backtracked after recognizing that there was also assistance for Kyiv in the appropriations bill for the Department of State and foreign operations. The Speaker said it was “too difficult” to strip the money out of the State Department measure.
Greene spoke out against the aid for Ukraine following the vote.
“I just voted NO to advance Ukraine funding bills. After tonight, we will find out who is actually against sending YOUR money to Ukraine. No more stump speeches. No more red meat. No more chest thumping in letters,” Greene wrote in a post on X.
The successful procedural vote marks an incremental win for McCarthy, who has struggled to advance spending measures this month amid conservative opposition. The House tried to advance the Department of Defense appropriations bill twice last week, with hardline opposition sinking the measure both times.
The advancement of the bills, however, will do nothing to avert a shutdown ahead of the Sept. 30 government funding deadline.
Leaders in both parties and chambers have recognized that a continuing resolution will be needed to keep the lights on in Washington beyond the Saturday deadline, but the path to clearing such a measure is unclear.
Senate leaders on Tuesday unveiled a bill to avoid a shutdown, but it remains unknown when it will clear the Senate and if McCarthy will bring the legislation to the floor for a vote. The measure would kick the funding deadline to Nov. 17 and it includes roughly $6 billion for Ukraine and $6 billion in disaster relief.
McCarthy has tried to coalesce his conference around a GOP-crafted continuing resolution that would cut spending and enact a chunk of the House Republican conference’s marquee border bill, but a number of hardliners have said that they will not support a stopgap measure under any circumstances.
House GOP leaders are hopeful that moving the four appropriations bills will make some of those Republican holdouts more open to a continuing resolution. McCarthy on Tuesday said he will bring a stopgap bill to the floor for a vote this week.
Updated at 10:05 p.m.
