McCarthy Shifts On Ukraine Funding–What Happened?

This makes it almost certain that the bill will pass with funds for Ukraine, since any Republican votes lost will be more than made up for by Democratic votes. The GOP’s Matt Gaetz and a number of others demanded that the Defense, State, as well as Foreign Operations funding bills move ahead together so that they would not be held up by the September 30 deadline.

McCarthy said he knows he is going to lose Greene’s support for the “rule” that controls the debate:

McCarthy told the press, “I believe Marjorie still continues to have a problem.”

Later, he said, “I think she’ll vote against the rule if it is in there. That’s why I was trying to find a way for everyone to be there. But this time it failed to work out.”

But Gaetz and his supporters voted for the rule even though Representative Greene was against it. Gaetz made this clear when he put down CNN’s paint-by-numbers reporter Abbie Phillips earlier in the day.

Remember these three things. Firstly, the $300 million in the spending bill isn’t much. Spending the money or not spending it won’t bring about a great age of economic responsibility in Washington, or is going to it make the government spend more than it should. The only reason I voted against giving money to Ukraine was to make a point that I don’t understand. I try to understand every day the thought that there are Republicans who want bigger countries to destroy weaker friends while we do nothing. Up to now, I’ve failed. Lastly, the money that was taken away doesn’t really matter if someone wants to stop money from going to Ukraine’s defense. Defense sent weapons worth $600 million to Ukraine on September 7. This past week, the Pentagon finished putting together another help plan worth $325 million. It has been authorized to send over $5 billion more in military help, but it hasn’t yet been sent.

McCarthy’s reputation as Speaker is at risk as he tries to get spending bills passed by Congress to keep the government from shutting down. Money for Ukraine is not at stake.