Kevin McCarthy Slams Marjorie Taylor Greene, Hard-Right Republicans As GOP Fails To Approve Defense Spending Bill: 'Want To Burn The Whole Place Down'

The House speaker, Kevin McCarthy, suffered his second defeat of the week as his conference failed to approve a procedural motion regarding government spending levels.

What happened: With no clear path forward in Republicans' negotiations, as the House concluded its work without any stated plan to reconvene, a federal shutdown slated for Sept. 30 now looms, The Guardian reported.

A proposal to take up House Republicans' defense spending bill failed with a vote of 216 to 212, marking the second time this week that the motion had failed. Five members of the House Freedom Caucus – Rep. Dan Bishop (R-N.C.), Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), Rep. Eli Crane (R-Ariz.), Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), and Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-Mont.) – opposed the procedural motion.

McCarthy expressed frustration with his critics within the Republican group, stating, "I don't understand why anybody votes against bringing the idea and having the debate."

“This is a whole new concept of individuals that just want to burn the whole place down. That doesn't work."

Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic House minority leader, chastised Republicans over their internal divisions, accusing them of jeopardizing Americans' wellbeing for the sake of a political stunt. "House Republicans continue to be held captive by the most extreme element of their conference, and it's hurting the American people," Jeffries stated at a press conference.

Why It Matters: This came after McCarthy on Wednesday expressed confidence leading up to the Thursday vote, stating that he and his supporters had achieved significant advancements in their discussions with the resistant Republicans.

The loss was seen as a negative indication of House Republicans’ ability to pass a distinct short-term spending bill before government funding expires at the end of the month.

Several unknowns still hang over McCarthy's effort, including whether hard-right members of the House Freedom caucus will abandon their blockade as the shutdown deadline approaches, and if the Republican-passed bill will include the Ukraine aid and disaster relief funding demanded by the Democratic-led Senate.

Meanwhile, Greene cited Ukraine aid as the reason for her "no" vote. Greene wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter): "Our Defense bill should not fund our DOD for blood money for the Ukraine war, that's why I'm a NO. What did we get out of Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan?"

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