House Republicans still have not landed on a stopgap bill to prevent a government shutdown with just two days until the deadline.
A faction of conservative lawmakers have promised to never vote for a short-term bill, meaning whatever House Speaker Kevin McCarthy produces could be dead before it hits the floor.
The speaker also faces pressure from the Senate, which has its own version of a stopgap bill that many conservatives in the lower chamber view as a non-starter.
That bill has made it through a test vote, and Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer said senators can expect to vote for the measure by Saturday.
Still, Mr. McCarthy, California Republican, expresses confidence that the House will pass a stopgap measure and avoid a shutdown.
Outside of a closed-door GOP conference meeting Wednesday, Rep. Ralph Norman said Mr. McCarthy would produce a stopgap bill Friday and that a draft of the legislation could be out as soon as Thursday night.
Mr. Norman, South Carolina Republican, said lawmakers are still figuring out the length of the measure. He added that there would definitely be no Ukraine money in the stopgap. The Senate version has $6 billion in Ukraine aid.
Mr. Norman said the speaker’s message inside the conference was to pass something to avoid getting jammed by the Senate.
“Let’s get something over there. Let’s [not] be held hostage by the Senate,” Mr. Norman said of Mr. McCarthy’s message to lawmakers. “If we can’t pass something, that puts us in a weaker position.”
Rep. Don Bacon, Nebraska Republican, said working with the Senate was inevitable.
“You know, in the end, we’re going to work with the Senate,” Mr. Bacon said. “That’s just reality. … It can’t just be ’my way or the highway,’ and that’s what some people seem to think that works. It doesn’t work that way.”
Mr. McCarthy has signaled he prefers a GOP-only stopgap bill that includes a slash in overall spending to $1.471 trillion for the duration of the measure, has elements of the Secure the Border Act and creates a debt commission.
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• Alex Miller can be reached at amiller@washingtontimes.com.
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