Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s bid to appeal Republican hardliners and get the House moving again after a recent floor party uprising has some Democrats warning of a tough road ahead when it comes to passing legislation that would keep the government running.

Republicans have rallied for the past week on guns and on decrying one of former President Trump’s most prominent critics, Democratic Representative Adam B. Schiff of Burbank. Those votes helped get the House moving again, though the latest attempt failed, with Schiff aided by some 20 Republicans.

The most drastic move of the week, however, was an announcement from the GOP leadership that arrived with little fanfare. Republicans said they plan to pursue credit bills, which fund government programs and agencies, with spending less than the revenue numbers they agreed to in a deal with the White House last month. That compromise avoided what would have been an unprecedented federal bankruptcy.

McCarthy argued that the numbers he negotiated with the White House amounted to a limit and you can always do less. GOP Representative Kay Granger of Texas, who heads the House Appropriations Committee, followed with a statement saying she would try to limit non-defense spending to the 2022 budget level, saying the debt deal would put a ceiling on the highest expenditure set, no minimum .

The announcements pleased Republicans who had criticized Bakersfield’s McCarthy and opposed the debt ceiling legislation because they felt that agreement allowed for overspending. But it immediately met resistance from Democrats, who say attempting to evade the top numbers of the debt ceiling agreement effectively guarantees a deadlock with the Senate and White House and possibly even a damaging government shutdown when funding expires this fall.

It’s a prelude to a halt to what they’re developing, said Connecticut Representative Rosa DeLauro, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee.

The emerging momentum raises the potential for another round of economy-rattling crisis in Washington just months after lawmakers narrowly avoided a damaging federal bankruptcy.

Partial government shutdowns are becoming more common in modern times, with the longest period under President Trump when he demanded money for a US-Mexico border wall. With President Biden facing the Republican-controlled House as he runs for re-election in 2024 and some conservatives openly decrying the damage a shutdown can do, the scramble over spending seems almost certain to escalate.

The tension created by the GOP’s push for greater cuts in non-defense spending was evident during Wednesday and Thursday hearings of the House Appropriations panel.

The Democrats accused the House Republicans of going back on their word. Do you think one of us would have made a deal if we thought your 22 number was the deal?” said Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.). ‘What kind of deal is that? What kind of self respect is that?”

You knew that wasn’t a ceiling, said Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.). Traditionally, we start there. Caps are not ceilings in our world. They are a starting point and then we negotiate from those numbers that we agreed on. It’s always been that way.

But Republicans said McCarthy was clear during the negotiations that spending should come down from current levels.

We can try to fool the American people with smoke and mirrors and pretend, but the speaker was clear. We are in debt crisis in this country, Representative Andy Harris (R-Md.) said.

Under the debt ceiling agreement, the White House said non-defense spending was expected to remain about the same in the next fiscal year and increase by 1% the following year. Defense spending would increase about 3.3% next year and 1% the following year. The agreement to curb discretionary spending does not include programs such as Medicare and Social Security, which are considered mandatory spending.

Some Republicans have urged leaders not to bow to a minority within the conference.

I think we have to be very careful not to allow, you know, a small portion of our conference to continually cut back on previously agreed upon issues, said Arkansas Republican Representative Steve Womack. That top line number was agreed upon in the [debt-ceiling bill]. They may not like it. Last week they expressed their displeasure. They’ve kind of closed the house, but we’ve got work to do. We have to do it.

Republicans only have a five-seat majority in the House, which increases the power a small bloc can hold. It took just 11 members, mostly members of the House Freedom Caucus, to block House votes on legislation in early June and send lawmakers home early. One of those 11, Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.), said moving to 2022 spending levels for non-defense programs will be good for Republican candidates in next year’s general election because that’s what voters are demanding.

Democrats have no interest in spending cuts, said Good. They must be forced to do so. We should have used the debt ceiling to force them to cut spending. We should use the credit process to force them to cut spending. We don’t have to fear a government shutdown. Most of what we do here is bad anyway.”

Many senators, Democrats and Republicans, didn’t seem too concerned about the possibility of a shutdown.

This mob making trouble for McCarthy is irrelevant to passing the appropriations bills,” said Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn). .

Ultimately, I believe we will resolve these issues, said Senator Susan Collins, the top Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Freking writes for the Associated Press.