McCarthy gives in to right flank on spending cuts, but they still deliver a defeat as shutdown looms

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s latest plan to prevent a looming federal shutdown by appeasing his hard-right flank quickly collapsed Thursday, a crushing defeat that makes a disruption in government services almost certain.

A government closure is increasingly likely as time runs out for Congress to act. McCarthy’s bid to move ahead with a traditionally popular defense funding bill as a first step toward keeping the government running was shattered by a core group of Republican colleagues when they refused to vote with the increasingly endangered speaker, whose job is on...