House shoots down stopgap spending measure, making weekend shutdown more likely

The House shot down a stopgap spending measure that would temporarily fund the government for 31 days, leaving the lower chamber without a viable proposal to begin negotiations with the Senate less than 48 hours before federal funding is set to lapse.

Lawmakers voted 198-232 to advance the $1.471 trillion legislation, falling short of the majority vote needed to send the bill over to the Senate. The failure deals a major blow to GOP leadership, making it all the more likely Congress won’t come to an agreement on spending legislation just two days before the government is set to shut down.

The measure failed after 21 Republicans joined all Democrats in opposing the measure, with several hard-line conservatives threatening for weeks that they would vote against any temporary legislation and would only advance single-subject spending bills. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) has been among the most vocal opponents, repeatedly warning House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) that he would seek to remove him as GOP leader if he advanced a stopgap measure.