Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s latest plan to avert a looming federal shutdown by appeasing his far-right flank quickly collapsed Thursday, a crushing defeat that makes a disruption of government services all but certain.

A government shutdown is becoming increasingly likely as time runs out before Congress acts.

The offer of

McCarthy

‘s bid (R-Bakersfield)

to move forward with a traditionally popular defense funding bill as a first step to keeping the government running was shattered by a core group of Republican colleagues when they refused to vote with the increasingly threatened speaker, whose job is at stake.

A test vote to advance the bill failed, 212-216, when a handful of Republicans joined with Democrats to block it. It was McCarthy’s third time

R-California,

has been obstructed on the defense bill, an unprecedented loss for a speaker. Once again the house suddenly stood still.

This is a whole new concept from individuals who just want to burn the place down, McCarthy said after the vote, acknowledging his frustration. It does not work.

The open rebellion was further evidence that McCarthy’s strategy of repeatedly pandering to conservatives seemingly only emboldens them. A handful of Republican lawmakers, under pressure from Donald Trump, the party’s early front-runner for the 2024 presidential nomination, have trampled on their own majority in the House of Representatives.

Trump urged conservatives to stick with the higher funding levels McCarthy agreed to with President Joe Biden earlier this year and to drop federal criminal charges against him.

This is also the last chance to debunk these political persecutions against me and other patriots, Trump wrote on social media. They failed on the debt limit, but they shouldn’t fail now. Use the power of the wallet and defend the country!

A federal shutdown looms on September 30, the end of the current budget year, if Congress cannot pass the bills needed to fund the government or approve a short-term measure to keep Washington running while negotiations continue.

We need the extreme MAGA Republicans to get their act together, said New York House Leader Hakeem Jeffries, referring to Trump’s campaign slogan.

End the Civil War, Jeffries urged Republicans. Act normal.

The White House and Democrats, along with some Republicans, warned that a shutdown would be devastating for people who depend on their government for daily services and would undermine America’s standing in the world.

Moving forward with the defense bill should be a way for McCarthy to build goodwill among the Republican House majority as he tries to pass a more temporary bill just to keep the government open. This emergency measure would finance the government for another month, but there were serious doubts. She too had focused on other hard-right priorities to cut spending on many services by 8% and strengthen security at the US-Mexico border.

Many on the right flank want to see progress on the 12 individual appropriations bills that would fund the various lower-level federal departments that these lawmakers are demanding before voting on any short-term measure. Many opposed the deal McCarthy made with Biden this year over spending levels and are now trying to dismantle it.

Then the test vote on the defense bill shattered McCarthy’s strategy.

He has a narrow majority in the House of Representatives, and Republicans appeared on track to advance the measure on Thursday. Then the Democrats who had not yet voted began storming into the House.

New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and fellow Democrats clamored to keep the vote open. She was a no.” A few others came after her and tipped the count toward defeat.

Democrats oppose the military bill on many fronts, including Republican provisions that would include diversity programs in the Pentagon.

When passage seemed doomed, attention turned to the five Republican holdouts to exchange their votes.

Republican leaders spent more than an hour in the chamber recruiting one holdout, Rep. Dan Bishop (R-N.C.), to vote yes.

Bishop told reporters afterward that he would have been willing to switch his vote in support, but he felt it

the

The previous night’s long meeting, when McCarthy convened lawmakers for two hours in the basement of the Capitol, did not give him the assurance he needed.

Any time there is even the slightest relief from pressure, the movement stops completing the work, Bishop said.

When asked what it would take to get his vote, Bishop said: I think an appropriations bill schedule on Kevin McCarthy’s signature would be meaningful to you.

[and]

to me.

Others were dug in, including some who had supported the defense bill just two days ago when it failed.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), a leading opponent of more aid to Ukraine in the war against Russia, said she voted against the defense bill this time because her party’s leadership refused to segregate the war money. She came as President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky

j

was at the Capitol during a high-profile visit to Washington.

McCarthy had promised to keep lawmakers in session this weekend for as long as it took to complete their work. But out of options, his next steps are uncertain.

Many Republicans began to speak out more forcefully against their far-right colleagues.

New York Rep. Mike Lawler, who represents a swing district, said he would not be party to a shutdown.

There has to be an awareness that you’re not going to get everything you want, he said. Just throwing a tantrum and honestly stomping your feet is not only wrong, it’s just pathetic.