Five dissenters: Yesterday, five Republicans went against their own party, opposing a spending package full of Pentagon appropriations that was supposed to make its way to the House floor. One of the dissenters, Rep. Ralph Norman (R–S.C.), said "he was opposing all GOP spending initiatives until he received a commitment from [House Speaker Kevin] McCarthy that the House would return federal spending to prepandemic levels without any budgetary gimmicks," per The New York Times.
Norman was joined by Reps. Andy Biggs (Ariz.), Dan Bishop (N.C.), Ken Buck (Colo.), and Matt Rosendale (Mont.), who together stymied attempts to bring the new spending package to a vote on the House floor. Though the budgetary infighting is a welcome change, and could in fact bring about good results for libertarians concerned about runaway defense spending, it could also backfire. "In an ironic twist of fate, frustrated Republicans are now growing more open to cutting a deal with Democrats—the worst possible outcome for the conservative hardliners agitating for deeper spending cuts," reports Axios.
