7 months ago
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Paul Kane/Washington Post:
McCarthy, McConnell suffer setbacks over control of their caucuses
The House speaker and Senate minority leader faced rejection on different fronts: McCarthy forced into leaning on Democrats to keep the government open and McConnell defied by GOP senators on Ukraine
First, after days of internal rebellion, McCarthy (R-Calif.) threw in the towel at a Saturday morning meeting. His leadership team had run the numbers, and at least six Republicans would oppose any plan to keep the government open by the midnight deadline.
With just four votes to spare on a GOP-only plan, McCarthy gave up and turned to Democrats to help pass a “clean” resolution to keep the government open at current levels into mid-November.
These aren’t close in terms of setback comparisons. McConnell will come up with a different funding vehicle while McCarthy will have a “motion to vacate” threat to deal with.
