Conservative opposition stalls House vote on Pentagon funding bill

House GOP leaders Wednesday delayed a procedural vote for a Department of Defense appropriations bill amid hard-line conservative pressure on overall spending levels that threatened to sink the legislation.

Leaders had planned to bring the rule for the legislation, a procedural vote that outlines the parameters for its consideration, to the floor in a 1:30 p.m. vote series, according to a notice sent out earlier in the day.

But later Wednesday, a notice went out that the series would not include the vote. The update, however, said additional votes are possible.

The rule also includes a bill that would prevent states from banning the sale of gas-powered cars.

“I think they’re just working on it,” Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) told reporters shortly after the vote was taken out of the 1:30 p.m. vote series.

Leaders can only lose a handful of votes on the bill, and a number of hard-line conservatives have already lined up against it.

Reps. Dan Bishop (R-N.C.) and Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) told reporters Wednesday morning that they planned to vote “no” on the procedural vote. Norman voted against sending the rule out of the House Rules Committee late Tuesday night.

The South Carolina Republican said he is opposed to the rule because GOP leadership has not provided conservatives with what the overall top-line figures for all 12 appropriations bills will be, which hard-liners have been pushing for.

“We were supposed to have all 12 [appropriations] bills, the top-line numbers, so we can see what our spending looks like. We didn’t have that,” Norman said.

Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.) told reporters Wednesday morning “we’ll see” when asked if he will vote against the rule, saying he wants to see top-line figures for all 12 appropriations bills.

House GOP members emerged from a closed-door conference meeting Wednesday unsure about whether they would get the support to move forward.

“I'm gonna be really disappointed in our conference if we can't pass this rule,” Rep. Steve Womack (R-Ark.) said.