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It certainly was a turbulent weekend in the House of Representatives. As the government shutdown deadline continued to loom, the House was able to pass a stopgap spending bill at the last minute with Democratic support. After the vote, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy expressed his frustration with the Republican Party, stating that some members were not willing to put America first.
He said he had tried every possible way to listen to all of the different opinions from his conference leading up to it but felt like they still weren’t taken into consideration.
He went on to state that he would rather be a part of a team who could get things done.
Matt Gaetz of Florida had previously said if McCarthy did as he did, there would be a process initiated to have him removed as speaker – but this motion didn’t come across.
The vote happened 335-91, with 209 Democrats and 126 Republicans in support and one Democrat and 90 Republicans voting against it. The bill eliminated aid for Ukraine conservative Republicans opposed as well as spending cuts conservative Republicans had wanted.
To avoid shutting down or not paying troops, McCarthy felt it was necessary to bypass conservatives and gain support from Democrats.
McCarthy: If you have members of your conference that will not let you vote for appropriations bills and will not vote for a stopgap measure so the only option is to shut down and not pay our troops I don't want to be a part of that team. pic.twitter.com/iMnyrgxAVb
— Acyn (@Acyn) September 30, 2023
The chair for the day, Steve Womack of Arkansas did not recognize Matt Gaetz when he tried gaining attention after the vote on the stopgap bill – making many question whether or not McCarthy’s speakership is really “on some tenuous ground”.
Mike Lawler from New York expressed his perspective that Speaker Kevin McCarthy has done an excellent job leading – claiming someone may bring a motion but it will eventually be defeated anyways.
The House now no longer has two weeks off in October due to these expectations that this bill would pass through Senate; votes are scheduled for October 2nd until 5th and then again October 10th until 13th according to The Washington Post.
