CNN — Congress remained on track Friday to trigger a government shutdown, as Speaker Kevin McCarthy suffered another high-profile defeat when the House failed to advance a last-ditch stopgap bill to extend government funding beyond Saturday.
Facing the most significant challenge to his leadership to date, McCarthy is locked in a roiling conflict with hardline conservatives who argue Congress should instead focus on passing full-year spending bills.
Twenty-one Republicans crossed over to vote with every Democrat against the bill for a vote of 232-198. The measure – a 30-day extension that would slash funding from current levels – also includes strict GOP-led border policies. House GOP leadership hoped that border security provisions tucked into the temporary measure would force hardliners’ hands – but it was not enough.
With Congress at an impasse, the federal government is preparing for a shutdown when government funding runs out at midnight on Saturday.
Ahead of the vote Friday, McCarthy vowed not to “surrender” and negotiate with the Senate on a short-term spending bill.
Pressed by CNN’s Manu Raju on why he wouldn’t work on a bipartisan funding solution with the Democratic-run Senate, McCarthy replied, “If you want to surrender, yeah. If you want to fight for the American public, to secure our borders and keep government open, how is that a problem?”
House Republicans are expected to gather Friday afternoon behind closed doors to discuss next steps.
On Thursday, the speaker refused to say whether he would try to cut a deal with Democrats – a step that could prompt conservatives to move to oust him from the speakership.
“I still got time, I got time to do other things,” McCarthy responded when asked by CNN what will happen if the stopgap bill fails.
Pressed further on whether he has a plan B, McCarthy said, “In this job you got to have an ABCDEF and G,” and he laughed when asked what letter he was currently on.
