The escalating turmoil within House Republicans

Republican hardline conservatives clash with Speaker Kevin McCarthy over federal government spending as lawmakers return to Washington for the first time since 11 Republicans paralyzed the chamber floor for days last week in protest over a bipartisan debt ceiling bill that passed the House on May 31 without some of the government spending cuts they had demanded. Hardliners could leave McCarthy's narrow 222-213 majority vulnerable to party infighting, potentially complicating passage of key legislation on appropriations, defense authorization, and agriculture and even empowering House Democrats.