[UPDATE] Republicans Reject Own Bill Amid Looming Government Shutdown

Republican lawmakers shut down a bill proposed by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in an attempt to avoid a government shutdown that could come in less than 48 hours.

The speaker also said that money for Ukraine should be dropped from the stopgap spending bill in order to avert the potential financial crisis. McCarthy said that if they can have a clean bill without Ukraine on it, they might be able to push it through.

Potential Government Shutdown

The Republican added that if the Senate puts Ukraine on the bill and focuses on the European nation over the United States, it could cause real problems. The House speaker said that if the Senate produces a bill "in the manner that they are" it will likely lead to a government shutdown.

McCarthy said that there is a way to solve that issue as he called for lawmakers to once again provide a "clean" bill to keep the government funded. However, if the Senate moves forward with Ukraine in their continuing resolution, the speaker said it would be a non-starter, as per CNN.

The GOP lawmaker seemed to be open to negotiating around funding levels and did not draw a red line on border security. The House is expected to remain in session next week and cancel their scheduled recess to try and address the pressing issue.

McCarthy and his leadership team sought to see if there was any willingness of the 21 holdouts to accept a short-term spending bill to keep the government open for a couple more weeks. However, 21 GOP lawmakers crossed over to vote with every Democrat against the stopgap bill on Friday, resulting in a vote of 232-198.

In a statement, Rep. Ralph Norman said that some of the GOP holdouts indicated during the conference that they could be willing to back a short-term spending bill now that leadership laid out a clear schedule for the rest of the spending bills.

The stopgap bill that Republican holdouts voted against would have extended government funding by 30 days. It would have also slashed spending and restricted immigration, which are Republican priorities that had little chance of passing the Democratic-controlled Senate, according to Reuters.

Republican Proposals

The development left the GOP with no clear strategy to prevent a government shutdown that would result in the closing of national parts, disrupting salaries for up to 4 million federal workers, and affecting everything from financial oversight to scientific research.

It also remained unclear whether or not the Senate would act in time to prevent the potential catastrophe. The chamber was due to take up a bipartisan bill on Saturday afternoon that would fund the government through Nov. 17. However, procedural obstacles could delay a final vote until Tuesday.

The House GOP's continuing resolution proposal also included an amendment to cut spending for its month-long duration to fiscal 2022 levels, which is roughly $130 billion less than the current year's.

McCarthy and his allies have accused Republican hardliners of siding with Democratic lawmakers and giving Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and the White House more leverage to pass government funding without conservative policy riders, said Fox News.