McCarthy says hard-right Republicans ‘want to burn whole place down’

Conference fails to approve procedural motion to take up defense spending bill as government shutdown looms

The House Republican speaker, Kevin McCarthy, was dealt his second humiliating defeat of the week on Thursday, when his conference again failed to approve a procedural motion as members continued to clash over government spending levels with just days left to avert a federal shutdown.

With no clear path forward in Republicans' negotiations, the House concluded its work on Thursday without any stated plan to reconvene on Friday.