House GOP leadership sends lawmakers home after spending vote fails

Republican leadership has told House lawmakers they can leave Washington, D.C., following a botched vote on a defense spending package that upended the legislative agenda that was set through Saturday.

The announcement follows a group of dissident House conservatives breaking ranks to stop a procedural vote on a Pentagon funding bill, preventing its consideration on the floor, The Hill reported. Conservatives did so on Tuesday as well in a bid to secure deeper spending cuts and to block additional aid to Ukraine.

The Thursday vote torpedoed a revised funding plan, the success of which would have allowed Congress to move on to other appropriations bills. Congress has until Sept. 30 to fund the government or risk a shut down.

The botched vote comes as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visits Washington, D.C., seeking additional funding for the war with Russia. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has already rejected a request from the Ukrainian leader to address a joint session of Congress as he did last year.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter.