House GOP’s tanked vote signals tough path ahead on funding

House Republicans’ failed vote this week is exposing party divides on spending and underlines the challenges GOP leadership faces in its ambitious plan to pass all 12 annual funding bills by the end of the month.

Republicans were caught off guard by the tally Thursday, when 10 members of their party voted with most Democrats to tank a GOP-crafted bill to fund the legislative branch for the next fiscal year.

GOP leadership said the party’s goal remains to get the rest of the bills across the finish line this month, and they have already cleared four, amounting to more than $1 trillion in government spending. But potentially tougher bills lie on the horizon.

The legislative bill, the smallest of the dozen bills, funds chamber operations, the U.S. Capitol Police, Library of Congress, the Congressional Budget Office and other offices.

But some of the Republicans who voted against the bill this week say they have a gripe with the measure over its proposed funding levels, which they say would amount to a $375 million increase in spending for fiscal 2025, among a list of other issues.