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Sept. 29 (UPI) -- Far-right Republicans on Friday voted down a GOP House bill that would have provided a temporary stopgap against the looming government shutdown that now would appear to be almost certain to occur this weekend. In a defeat for House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, the measure failed 198-232 as 21 Republicans joined Democrats in opposition to the plan.
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McCarthy earlier had expressed confidence that the plan, which included a 30% across-the-board cuts for most agencies and more spending on border security, would pass, notably because the measure also contained no funds for assisting Ukraine in its war against invading Russia.
On Friday afternoon, though, Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., led the far-right opposition to the measure, known as a continuing resolution. He and others in the conservative Freedom Caucus want the House to pass all 12 appropriations bills with substantial spending cuts. Such a plan would have to be negotiated with the Democratic-controlled Senate.
Lamenting the measure's failure, moderate New York Rep. Mike Lawler placed the blame squarely on Gaetz, according to a report by The Hill.
"There's only one person to blame for any potential government shutdown, and that's Matt Gaetz," he said. "He's not a conservative Republican. He's a charlatan."
On Friday, the White House Office of Management and Budget issued a statement opposing the House plan, calling it "a blatant violation of the funding agreement the speaker and the president reached just a few months ago."
The Senate passed its own stopgap measure on Thursday, 76-22, but members of the Freedom Caucus said they would not support it and McCarthy for now has refused to bring it to a House vote.
"We actually need a stop-gap measure to allow the House to continue to finish its work, to make sure our military gets paid, to make sure our border agents get paid as we finish the job that we're supposed to do," McCarthy said.
House Republicans met for several hours Friday afternoon but wrapped up without announcing what next steps will be taken in the House to grapple with the fast-approaching deadline.
But meeting with the press after that meeting, McCarthy suggested a two-week, short-term funding bill with no attachments.
"I think if we had a clean one [CR] without Ukraine on it, we could probably be able to move that through," he said. "I think if the Senate puts Ukraine on there and focuses Ukraine over America, I think I think that could cause real problems."
He said such a scenario would succeed in stopping the government shutdown only if the Senate also delivered a similar measure with attachments, specifically relating to U.S. support for Ukraine.
The Republican House bill would have created a fiscal commission to balance the federal budget and recommend changes to improve solvency for some programs, such as Medicare and Social Security.
Opposition Republicans led by Gaetz have frustrated and undercut McCarthy for weeks as the GOP holds only a four-seat majority in the House, giving the hardline coalition increased leverage on critical votes.
If lawmakers don't to pass the spending measure before Sunday's deadline, federal workers, including Border Patrol agents, could go weeks without pay.
Senate Republicans were working closely with House conservatives to piece together a competing funding bill aimed at giving McCarthy more leverage to negotiate with the defiant bloc of far-right conservatives.
McCarthy had hoped to have the discretion to put either the House or Senate stopgap up for a full vote, presumably before midnight Sunday, when funding for the government is due to expire.
However, Friday's failure to pass the House stopgap measure, which would have set discretionary spending below the $1.59 trillion that McCarthy and President Joe Biden agreed to in a debt limit deal earlier this year, means that plan is off the table.
Meanwhile, the Senate was expected to take a series of votes over the weekend in an effort to get its funding bill to the House for a final vote by Sunday. But nothing was a sure bet as some conservative senators vowed to oppose the measure due to allocations for Ukraine.
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said he would oppose the stopgap funding so long as funding for Ukraine remained in the bill.
"To avoid a government shutdown, I will consent to an expedited vote on a clean CR without Ukraine aid on it. If leadership insists on funding another country's government at the expense of our own government, all blame rests with their intransigence," he said in a statement posted to X.
Lawmakers acknowledged that time was running out and that a shutdown would be likely unless McCarthy could reach an unlikely compromise with the rancorous conservative bloc.
"It's hard to see that we would get everything done by Saturday night," said Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md.
House Republicans also expressed growing uncertainty as the funding deadline approached.
"Unless something dramatic happens today or tomorrow, there will likely be a couple-of-day or longer shutdown -- very, very unfortunately, because it's our responsibility to exercise and exhaust all options," said Rep. Dan Meuser, R-Pa.
Senators were advised to remain in Washington over the weekend to ensure they are "available" for the vote.
"Right now, we're told if Republicans insist on delay, we'll be voting through Sunday," said Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.
