Kevin McCarthy’s fight to become Speaker of the House of Representatives should have been the most embarrassing moment of his political career. The U.S. House of Representatives had to vote fifteen times before he could gain enough support in his party to lead the House of Representatives.

But months later, the battle over whether to fund the federal government is the latest in a series of humiliations.

The chairman failed to get his party aligned and had to rely on Democrats to pass a resolution that would fund the government for 45 days.

which would cause delays

a possible closure until November 17.

The House of Representatives has approved the short-term financing

solution

Saturday afternoon,

335-91

,

with Democrats overwhelmingly supporting the resolution. Democrats balked at the slight, complaining they didn’t have time for their staffs to review the 71-page bill that was thrown on their desk about an hour before the vote.

It is unclear whether the Senate will approve the measure or whether President Biden will sign it.

If the Senate and the president approve the House of Representatives bill before midnight Saturday, the federal government will not shut down. Democrats had asked for more time to examine the 71-page resolution, which they said was given to them less than an hour before the scheduled vote. Rep. Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) used his magic minute, an unlimited speech that only party leaders can use, to speak for 45 minutes Saturday afternoon, giving his allies more time to read the bill.

McCarthy’s need to rely on Democratic votes to fund the government make him weaker than ever. For much of September, a handful of conservatives had repeatedly torpedoed his spending bills, erasing any hope of projecting Republican unity on Senate Democrats and Biden.

The 45-day funding resolution only delays McCarthy’s inevitable choice: shut down the government, or betray the conservative hardliners who could make or break his speakership and infuriate former President Trump, who has made it clear he wants the government shut down closed unless conservatives get everything they demand.

The conservative hardliners, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Dan Bishop of North Carolina, Matt Gaetz of Florida and Andy Biggs of Arizona all voted against the resolution. President Trump has urged that group and repeatedly emphasized that he would like to see the government shut down.

It remains unclear what policies Conservatives in the House of Representatives can realistically hope to achieve if Democrats gain control of the Senate and White House. But it is clear that a shutdown is unlikely to go down well with voters.

Shutting down the government has never worked for Republicans, said Ed Rollins, a Republican strategist and former senior adviser

O

r to President Reagan. “You’re going to be blamed for it,” he said. “Many people are dissatisfied with it. They see no point in it.”

“Kevin is in a very precarious situation,” Rollins said.

McCarthy is the most visible Republican in Congress and his role

as

a speaker usually commands authority and respect from his party. But is the title of speaker worth all this outrage?

“It’s no secret that there is a massive leadership vacuum within the Republican Party.” Alex Conant, a Republican strategist, told The Times. “We see that happening on the floor of the House of Representatives, where no one can force every member to stand in line.”

Historically, when Republicans shut down the government, they had a clear goal. The last shutdown occurred under then-President Trump, when Republicans controlled Congress over funding for a wall on the southern border. below

President

Obama, the fight was over getting funding for the Affordable Care Act,

the president

signature legislation.

This time the message isn’t clear, making a complicated issue even harder for voters to understand.

“I would say the messages are bad, but that would indicate there is a message,” Conant told The Times. ‘There is no communication plan. There is no political strategy.” He added: “It’s just an unmitigated disaster for Republicans.”

On Saturday, Republicans in the House of Representatives finally seemed to achieve a clear goal: cutting funding for Ukraine. The House bill is identical to the Senate bill, with the exception of funding for Ukraine, Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) claimed in a speech on the floor.

“If you tell the American people with a straight face that you would shut down the government to Ukraine, shame on you,” Lawler said.

Earlier this week, Senate Republicans and Democrats sent the House of Representatives a clean, no-nonsense spending bill that included funding for Ukraine. McCarthy bowed to conservatives and refused to give the bill a floor vote. But he brought one

similar, almost identical

version.

By means of

By removing Ukrainian funding from the legislation, McCarthy made it more bearable for Republicans, many of whom have grown hostile to sending more military aid to the war-torn country. Senate Democrats and Republicans remain overwhelmingly in favor of sending more aid to Ukraine, though that position has become increasingly unpopular among the Republican base.

The fact that McCarthy and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell

(R-Ky.)

stand on opposite sides of this battle to reflect

S

the reality lawmakers face when re-elected, Conant said.

The Kentucky senator is focused on his party regaining the majority in the Senate. If Republicans want to do that, their candidates must be able to win in purple states, Conant said. “McConnell recognizes the political damage this causes

to go

“That must be done to the Republicans by a shutdown. He is exerting as much pressure as possible to keep the lights on.”

But in the House, McCarthy must take into account his members’ concerns

l

The main challenges come from conservatives loyal to Trump, Conant said. Joining Trump in bashing a sitting president

GOP lawmaker

Being a Republican in name only is a way to win in dark red districts and lose in purple districts.