Without being able to see eye to eye, the House Budget Committee had to delay a vote on the party’s budget late Wednesday night.
Chairman Tom Price, R-Ga., called off the vote on the nearly $3.8 trillion GOP blueprint, as defense hawks and fiscal conservatives battled over the budget and defense spending markups.
Even though House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., was unable to break the deadlock in the Budget panel, Price said the committee may reconvene Thursday, according to the Hill.
The deadlock was sparked by an amendment proposal from Rep. Todd Rokita, R-Ind., which would increase funding for an emergency account meant for overseas conflicts known as the “Oversees Contingency Operations” fund by $30 billion to $96 billion — something meant to appeal to defense hawks.
However, the amendment actually upset fiscal conservatives, causing the block.
As the panel meeting moved pass midnight and progress was not being made, McCarthy tried to make a strong push to convince some Republicans to back the additional defense spending and get the budget proposal to the House floor — which failed.
The GOP caucus now has to work to strike a balance in the majority, so a budget resolution between the two chambers of Congress will be completely negotiated by April 15.
