Defense spending bill up in flames amid House GOP conflagration

A procedural vote to advance the House GOP’s defense spending bill failed 212-214 on the chamber floor on Tuesday after Republican lawmakers butted heads over how to avoid a government shutdown. The result is a blow to Speaker Kevin McCarthy given that the party in power traditionally does as ordered on a “rule” vote that sets the terms for putting the bill on the floor.

Five Republicans voted with Democrats to kill the move, known as a rules vote. This is the second time it’s happened during McCarthy’s tenure – the last time a rules vote failed before that was November 2002. The five Republicans who voted against the rule are Reps. Matt Rosendale, R-Mont., Ralph Norman, R-S.C., Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., Dan Bishop, R-N.C., and Ken Buck, R-Colo.

Democrats erupted in cheers as Republicans launched into heated conversations on the House floor.

It’s a symptom of the tensions that have bubbled up to the surface in recent days over how to fund the federal government.

The doomed legislation was one of 12 appropriations bills Congress is working to pass to fund the government for the next fiscal year. If no action is taken on spending by Sept. 30, the government could enter a partial

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