Dem House Leader Calls for Vote on Senate Measure

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., called on House Republicans to bring up the bipartisan Senate continuing resolution for a vote, calling it "the only way forward."

Jeffries made the comments in a press conference on Capitol Hill, Friday, after hardliners in the GOP caucus again voted down House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's last-ditch effort to pass a stopgap bill to keep the government open.

The bill included 30% spending cuts to many agencies and border security provisions, measures that the hardliners deemed insufficient on a continuing resolution that would have been dead on arrival in the Senate anyway.

"It's not the end yet; I've got other ideas," McCarthy, R-Calif., told reporters afterward.

The Senate continuing resolution advanced Thursday and is expected for a vote in the coming days. It could get passed in the House, with the backing of 213 Democrats committed to voting for it and a handful of moderate Republicans, but only if McCarthy brings it up for a vote — something he has already vowed not to do.

"The Senate bipartisan continuing resolution will emerge in that institution in the next few days and be sent over to the House of Representatives," Jeffries said. "The only way forward is for House Republicans to put the bipartisan continuing resolution that emerges from the Senate on the House floor for an up-or-down vote."

"If House Republicans were to do that, we can avoid a catastrophic, extreme MAGA Republican government shutdown," he added. "It's not that complicated."

The Senate continuing resolution would fund the government at current levels through Nov. 17, but it includes $6.15 billion in supplemental funding for Ukraine, a nonstarter for House GOP hardliners. The measure also includes $5.99 billion in domestic disaster relief.

McCarthy will have the spotlight to himself if the shutdown comes early Sunday morning or he would certainly face a motion to vacate by the hardliners in his party, something that might happen anyway.

House conservatives are coming together around a plan to nominate Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minn., a member of McCarthy's leadership team, to replace McCarthy as early as next week.

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