Defense Budget Pulled From House Floor as GOP Turmoil Stokes Fear of Government Shutdown

Top-Line Spending Caps Are The Bottom Line For House Conservatives Who Won’t Adopt Any Of The 12 Annual Appropriations Bills Without Them.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy announcing the opening of an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden, on Sept. 12, 2023. Joseph Lord/The Epoch Times

Unless top-line caps are fixed onto the 12 annual federal appropriations bills that constitute each fiscal year’s federal budget, a bloc of House conservatives will reject any and all proposed spending measures—including the nation’s must-pass defense budget.

That bottom-line vow from several key Republicans prompted House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) to pull a procedural vote on the proposed $886.3 billion fiscal year 2024 defense budget from a planned afternoon floor vote on Sept. 13.