A U.S. government shutdown appeared almost inevitable Friday after a faction of far-right Republicans in the House of Representatives rejected the party's own stopgap funding bill.
A day before Saturday's deadline to fund the federal government, the last-ditch bill proposed by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy was defeated by 21 Republican dissidents and all Democrats. The vote was 198-232.
The likely shutdown on Sunday will leave about 2 million troops without pay and result in furloughs for hundreds of thousands of federal workers as well as closures of national park sites and possibly other facilities.
The bill voted down in the chamber, which Republicans control with a slim majority, would have extended government funding through Oct. 31 with sharp cuts, reducing funds for nearly all federal agencies by as much as 30 percent.
As demanded by the hardliners, it also would have added new measures to tighten border security.
But as Republican divisions have deepened, paralyzing Congress, the bill failed to pass at a time when it is becoming increasingly difficult for McCarthy to keep his job at the top of the party.
"If the House fails to fulfill its most basic function and fails to fund government by tomorrow, we'll have failed all our troops," President Joe Biden, a Democrat whose party controls the Senate, said at a ceremony honoring outgoing Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley.
"Our service members will keep upholding their oath, showing up for work standing sentinel around the world, keeping our country secure, but they won't get paid. It's a disgrace," Biden said. "You can't be playing politics when our troops stand in the breach."
