The pair did switch their positions on Thursday and vote for the measure, but Ms. Greene and Mr. Crane flipped to “no,” negating the gain.
Democrats, who have become accustomed to disarray on the other side of the aisle, were nonetheless flabbergasted on Thursday morning when they realized the vote was going to fail after Mr. McCarthy tried a second time.
“Just really a collapse,” said Representative Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, the senior Democrat on the Appropriations Committee. “There really isn’t any leadership. You know, you have to provide direction; you have to provide leadership, as difficult as it may be.”
But the problems with the defense measure were only the most immediate challenge. On Thursday, a group of hard-right Republicans made it clear that they would oppose any stopgap funding plan, no matter what Mr. McCarthy offered them. The group included those who blocked the military spending measure — Mr. Biggs, Mr. Crane, Mr. Rosendale, Mr. Bishop — and others, including Representative Matt Gaetz of Florida, the ringleader of the Republican opposition to Mr. McCarthy’s plans.
“Elections have consequences, and my folks at home are saying, ‘Quit spending this much money,’” Representative Tim Burchett, Republican of Tennessee, said on CNN. He dismissed Mr. McCarthy’s proposal as “a 30-day fix” and said Congress needed to pass a real budget. “The way you get this country off these so-called continuing resolutions is quit passing” them, he said when asked if there were any short-term funding proposal he could support.
Representative Anna Paulina Luna, Republican of Florida, wrote defiantly on the X platform: “I saw what happened with the debt ceiling. I saw what happened with negotiations & the senate. HOLD THE LINE #NOCR”
Luke Broadwater and Carl Hulse contributed reporting.
