The surprise 230-195 defeat came at the hands of Democrats and tea party Republicans. Democrats were opposed because the measure contains $1.5 billion in cuts to a government loan program to help car companies build fuel-efficient vehicles. For their part, many GOP conservatives felt the underlying bill permits spending at too high a rate.
The outcome sends House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and his leadership team back to the drawing board as they seek to make sure the government doesn't shut down at the end of next week. It also raises the possibility that the government's main disaster relief program could run out of money early next week for victims of Hurricane Irene and other disasters.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has only a few days' worth of aid remaining in its disaster relief fund, lawmakers said Wednesday. The agency has already held up thousands of longer-term rebuilding projects _ repairs to sewer systems, parks, roads and bridges, for example _ to conserve money to provide emergency relief to victims of recent disasters.
The looming shortage has been apparent for months, and the Obama White House was slow to request additional money.
The underlying stopgap funding measure would finance the government through Nov. 18 to give lawmakers more time to try to reach agreement on the 12 unfinished spending bills needed to run government agencies on a day-to-day basis for the 2012 budget year.
Forty-eight Republican broke with GOP leaders on the vote; six Democrats voted for the measure.
The measure was originally designed by GOP leaders to pass with bipartisan support. Last week, Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer of Maryland and Rep. Norm Dicks of Washington, the top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, said publicly that they would vote for it reluctantly.
The underlying stopgap measure was opposed by conservative Republicans unhappy with the spending rates set by the measure, which are line with levels set by last month's budget and debt pact with President Barack Obama. That measure provides about 2 percent more money for Cabinet agency budgets than Republicans proposed when passing a nonbinding budget plan in April. More than 50 Republicans recently wrote to Boehner calling on him to stick to the earlier GOP budget.
"This bill was designed to pass with Democrat votes, in part based on assurances from Reps. Dicks and Hoyer," said Erica Elliott, spokeswoman for GOP Whip Kevin McCarthy of California. "Frankly, it's shocking as many Republicans voted for it as did."
