McCarthy makes case for short-term spending bill ahead of showdown vote

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, ahead of a critical vote, made the case Friday for advancing a short-term funding bill to avert a government shutdown.

McCarthy, at a news conference alongside other House Republicans, played up the new border security provisions being added to the stopgap measure to keep the government open until Oct. 31.

"Every member will have to go on record on where they stand," McCarthy said. "Are they willing to secure the border or do they side with President Biden on an open border And vote against a measure to keep government open?"

The bill was being amended by the House Rules Committee to include border provisions from Republicans' major legislation passed earlier this year, such as a restart of border wall construction and tougher penalties for visa overstays.

The proposal also includes keeping government spending to a lower level while maintaining Veterans Affairs and military spending, which would result in dramatic cuts to social spending programs and other areas across the government.

But it's still not likely to be enough to appease Republican hard-liners, who've previously threatened to oust McCarthy as speaker over the spending battle. ABC News counts nearly 10 Republicans who will not vote for a continuing resolution.

Asked about hard-liner opposition, McCarthy said: “We’ll see. I can’t understand why someone would side with President Biden and keeping the border open. We’ll see when the vote comes. If those individuals vote that way, you should ask them that question.”

Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., in brief floor remarks Friday morning, criticized the short-term measure as one that "weakens the Republican position on strong border policies."

"I will be voting against this continuing resolution," Gaetz said.

Even if the House measure were to pass, it is out of step with the Senate's bipartisan 45-day stopgap proposal, meaning that passage is no guarantee to keep the government from running out of money on Saturday night.

The White House Office of Management and Budget released a statement opposing the House's short-term measure. The office said if the bill came to his desk, President Joe Biden will veto it.

"In a blatant violation of the funding agreement the speaker and the President reached just a few months ago, the bill endangers the vital programs Americans rely on by making reckless cuts to programs, regardless of the consequences for critical services from education to food safety to law enforcement to housing to public health," the statement read.

"The Administration urges House Republicans to follow the Senate's lead and engage in a bipartisan appropriations process that funds the Federal Government in a responsible manner, consistent with the bipartisan agreement earlier this year."

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