U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said Tuesday he has delayed a key procedural vote for a 30-day stopgap funding measure intended to avoid a government shutdown after current funding expires federal agencies on September 30.
Speaking to reporters at the U.S. Capitol, McCarthy said the House of Representatives would consider a vote to open debate on the measure, after lawmakers vote on whether to open debate on an appropriations bill defense. The vote on the interim measures was to take place first.
“We changed the order,” the Republican president told reporters, saying the delay would give his fractured Republican majority more time to muster the votes needed to pass the measure.
The stopgap, known as a continuing resolution or “CR,” faces opposition from more than a dozen hardline Republican conservatives, enough to block its path through the House.
The CR would keep federal agencies afloat through Oct. 31, but cut discretionary spending by agencies outside of defense, veterans affairs and disaster relief by about 8 percent. It would also impose some restrictions on immigration and resume construction of a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.
Republican hardliners who oppose the measure say it doesn’t go far enough to cut spending and constrain the administration of President Joe Biden, a Democrat.
The measure also faces stiff opposition from Democrats in the House and Senate, who have decried spending cuts and immigration policy changes.
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