House Republicans are still scrambling to put together a package of spending measures with fresh cuts in lieu of making progress on stopgap spending legislation to prevent a partial government shutdown on Sept. 30.
Word of the package comes as House Speaker Kevin McCarthy failed for the second time this week to advance a procedural vote for the annual defense spending bill, which is considered by many to be a layup vote for conservatives.
Time is running out for lawmakers to do something before the government partially shuts down. There are only nine calendar days left before the Sept. 30 deadline.
Rep. Matt Gaetz, Florida Republican, said after a meeting in House Majority Whip Tom Emmer’s office that lawmakers were developing a package of spending measures for next week.
The topline overall spending number could be $1.526 trillion, a level that GOP lawmakers say has gained some traction throughout the conference. Mr. McCarthy previously pitched that number in his push to corral lawmakers into supporting his vision for a short-term spending resolution to keep the government open.
Mr. Gaetz has firmly stood against a stopgap spending measure and has pressed leadership to advance single-subject spending bills.
The proposed package could include the spending legislation for the Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, the State and foreign operations, and either measures for energy and water or agriculture, he said.
“Now we have a path forward,” Mr. Gaetz said. “It may be a little clunky and a little longer and a little messier than just saying in a continuing resolution ‘ah, to hell with it, just keep funding the government.’ But that is the true act of governing and legislating, and we have not done that in this town since the 90s.”
So far, the House has advanced only one spending bill. Advancing a package of three or four bills, let alone the remaining 11, would be a tall task ahead of the deadline.
“We may have to pass some of them during the shutdown,” Mr. Gaetz said.
GOP lawmakers contended throughout the day that moving single spending bills is something the lower chamber should have been doing all along.
Meanwhile, the short-term spending measure Mr. McCarthy pitched to lawmakers Wednesday during a closed-door conference meeting could be on life support. Leadership has struggled to wrangle votes for the legislation, which would set topline spending at $1.471 trillion during its 30-day duration, including most of the Secure the Border Act and an initiative to launch a debt commission.
“Right now, I think the CR is dead,” said Rep. Cory Mills of Florida after a session in the speaker’s office.
A previously negotiated version of a stopgap spending measure had roughly 18 holdout votes, mostly from House Freedom Caucus members.
Freedom Caucus members have long held that spending should be much lower than the levels agreed to by Mr. McCarthy and President Biden in the debt ceiling deal last spring. Though topline spending in the bill package does not hit the $1.471 trillion mark, it is still below the cap.
The latest version from Mr. McCarthy could have as many as seven detractors. Republicans only have a five-vote majority.
And any measure approved by the House GOP is almost certain to be dead on arrival in the Democrat-controlled Senate.
Rep. Steve Womack, Arkansas Republican, said the Senate will likely reject the lower spending levels that holdouts have pushed for. Instead, the upper chamber could forge ahead with their own stopgap spending measure, he said.
“We’re risking the Senate completing its work and sending it to us and saying ‘Here you go,’” Mr. Womack said after leaving Mr. McCarthy’s office. “They’ve been, I think, pretty patiently waiting on the House to do its work, and here we are now.”
“The last two weeks we’ve done absolutely nothing,” Mr. Womack said. “If we don’t vote [Friday], then we will have wasted two straight weeks.”
• Alex Miller can be reached at amiller@washigtontimes.com.