House GOP defectors shoot down defense spending bill for second time

The House once again shot down a vote to begin debate on its annual defense appropriations bill, failing to overcome a key procedural hurdle to advance the must-pass legislation for the second time this week.

Lawmakers voted 212-216 to begin consideration of the $826 billion spending bill, falling short of the majority vote needed to kick-start debate on more than 180 amendments lawmakers are seeking to attach to the funding bill. The vote deals a major blow to GOP leaders who spent days negotiating with GOP holdouts after they initially sank the bill earlier this week.

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Five Republicans voted to oppose the measure, including Reps. Dan Bishop (R-NC), Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), Andy Biggs (R-AZ), Eli Crane (R-AZ), and Matt Rosendale (R-MT). Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK) also voted no, likely as a procedural move to bring the rule up for another vote later this week.

GOP leaders have been working for weeks to shore up enough support for the defense appropriations bill, even agreeing to several culture war amendments that target Pentagon policies on abortion and LGBT issues to win key holdout votes. However, those efforts were complicated after a handful of Republicans came out in opposition to the bill.

The House was originally scheduled to vote on the Defense Appropriations Act last Wednesday, but the legislation was later pulled from the schedule due to a lack of support among hard-line conservatives who sought to use their votes as leverage for other legislation. Among the holdouts’ demands was a vote on border legislation as well as slashed funding for “woke policies” at the Pentagon, among other things.

GOP leaders decided to move forward with the vote on Tuesday despite the lack of support, hoping to stir some movement on appropriations. The House ultimately shot down the vote after five Republicans joined all Democrats in sinking the measure, falling short of the majority threshold needed to advance the legislation.

Republicans met in a closed-door meeting on Wednesday to discuss moving forward with appropriations, emerging with a deal that convinced a handful of rank-and-file members to switch their vote on Thursday. However, those efforts failed to pull enough hard-line conservatives over the finish line, sending them back to the drawing board once again just one week before the government shutdown deadline.

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Congress has until Sept. 30 to pass the budget for the next fiscal year, after which the government will run out of money and shut down until a deal is made. By then, lawmakers must advance 12 individual appropriations bills in each chamber before sending their final product to the president’s desk for approval, setting the stage for an arduous process as House Republicans and Senate Democrats disagree on overall spending numbers.

It’s not clear when the House plans to reconvene to vote on the legislation, throwing the House into uncertainty as GOP leaders scramble to unify their party.