"McCarthy ally challenges critics, urges unity to prevent shutdown"

Republican Congressman Don Bacon dismisses the threats from hardliners to unseat House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, stating that McCarthy is supported by the majority of Republicans in the House GOP conference. Bacon argues that a handful of insurgents, led by Rep. Matt Gaetz, represent only a small percentage of the conference and that their attempts to unseat the speaker would play into the Democrats' hands. Bacon urges the majority of Republicans to not be cowered or bullied by a few individuals and instead work in a bipartisan manner to govern for the country. The immediate problem for House Republicans is the looming deadline to fund the government by Sept. 30, with divisions in the GOP conference derailing the annual defense spending bill and causing disagreements over passing a stopgap funding bill.