Republicans buckle down for what could be marathon blockade
by Emily Brooks, Mike Lillis and Mychael Schnell - 06/09/23 6:00 AM ET
Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) is racing to break the lower chamber deadlock triggered this week by disgruntled conservatives, but rank-and-file members aren’t holding their breath for a resolution.
A number of House Republicans left Washington on Thursday warning the sides remain so far apart that it might require weeks — maybe longer — to get the House back to working order.
The conservatives are furious with McCarthy’s handling of last month’s debt ceiling negotiations, which led to a deal with President Biden loathed by GOP hard-liners who think the Speaker caved too easily on the Republicans’ deficit reduction demands.
As payback, 11 conservative firebrands — most of them members of the far-right Freedom Caucus — bucked tradition and opposed a procedural motion on Tuesday, blocking four Republican messaging bills from reaching the floor this week. Given the Republicans’ razor-thin House majority, that number was more than enough to sink the rule, bring McCarthy’s legislative agenda to a screeching halt and force GOP leaders to cancel three days of scheduled votes.
The House is slated to vote again Monday. But as the chamber recessed on Thursday, some of the detractors were signaling the blockade will continue until McCarthy can satisfy their ill-defined demands.
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https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4041383-republicans-buckle-down-marathon-blockade/
