Republican infighting stalls spending bills in US House as shutdown looms

Republicans who control the U.S. House of Representatives failed to advance two spending bills on Tuesday, as party infighting threatened the ability of Congress to fund the government and avert a partial shutdown at the end of the month.

The House voted 214-212 to defeat a measure that would have opened debate on an $886 billion fiscal 2024 defense appropriations bill, with five hardline Republican conservatives joining Democrats to oppose their party's own measure.

Meanwhile, a larger division within House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's fractious Republican majority prevented lawmakers from agreeing on a short-term measure to keep federal agencies afloat after funding expires on Sept. 30.

McCarthy has been unable to win cooperation from hardliners who want assurances that fiscal 2024 appropriations will not exceed a 2022 top line of $1.47 trillion - $120 billion less than McCarthy and Democratic President Joe Biden agreed to in May.

Political brinkmanship has begun to attract the attention of Wall Street, with rating agency Fitch citing repeated down-to-the-wire negotiations that threaten the government's ability to pay its bills when it downgraded U.S. debt rating to AA+ from its top-notch AAA designation earlier this year.