House Postpones Vote on Continuing Resolution (Video)

McCarthy was elected by his Republican colleagues to be the next House majority leader. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call File Photo)
McCarthy was elected by his Republican colleagues to be the next House majority leader. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call File Photo)
By Emma Dumain
Posted September 10, 2014 at 4:24pm

The House will postpone its scheduled Thursday vote on a continuing resolution to fund the government past Sept. 30.  

Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., made the announcement during the afternoon vote series on Wednesday, saying the delay was needed to give members time to reach an agreement on whether to include Obama administration-requested language to aid Syrian rebels against terrorist insurgents operating under the name the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.  

He did not say when the CR vote would be rescheduled, but House Appropriations Chairman Harold Rogers told reporters he hoped the vote can be held in one week.  

“We stand ready to listen and work with the president,” McCarthy told lawmakers, a statement greeted by a smattering of applause from both sides of the aisle.  

McCarthy’s announcement cemented speculation that had been flying throughout the day that the CR’s consideration would be put off until next week.  

Earlier on Wednesday, the House Republican Conference suddenly called a members-only meeting for 9 a.m. on Thursday to discuss a strategy for dealing with ISIS, to take place before a bipartisan classified briefing from administration officials on the matter that had already been scheduled. Then, the Rules Committee canceled its 2 p.m. Wednesday business meeting where parameters for CR floor debate were to be debated and finalized.  

The chaos signaled that something might be amiss in the vote count — a claim GOP leadership aides vehemently denied.  

One aide with House Republican leadership told CQ Roll Call that a formal whip operation had never been put into action. She said the plan had been to begin taking a temperature check during the afternoon vote series, but that it was put off when it became clear that the CR could ultimately get rewritten to accommodate the ISIS request.