House Republicans are in trouble.
GOP leadership pulled their bill to open the government and lift the debt ceiling because they didn’t have the votes to squeeze it through the chamber.
There will be no vote Tuesday, which means Washington will have one day to lift the debt ceiling before the U.S. government reaches its borrowing limit.
It’s unclear what Speaker John Boehner’s team will do next. This could, once again, sideline the House and kick action over to negotiations between Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). The U.S. government reaches its debt limit on Thursday and the government has been shut down for more than two weeks.
The bill that was pulled because of flagging support would’ve reopened the government until Dec. 15, lifted the debt ceiling until Feb. 7, while forcing everyone from the president to Capitol Hill staffers to pay more for their health insurance.
House Democrats said they would’ve voted nearly unanimously against this plan. That means Boehner, Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) and Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) would’ve had to find 217 GOP votes to pass their bill on their own.
Conservatives immediately rebelled. Outside conservative groups like FreedomWorks and Heritage Action for America urged lawmakers to vote against the bill.
The Tuesday evening drama is ironic, because Boehner spent all day changing the bill to maximize Republican support.
It’s yet another sign that Washington isn’t moving any closer to solving a grinding fiscal impasse that has had government shut since Oct. 1.