The Big Story 

The top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee called the Republicans’ stopgap funding fight “fanatic-on-fanatic violence,” calling out his colleagues for not being able to agree on what he said were two extreme views. 

© Greg Nash, The Hill

“There’s nothing funny about it, you know, and it is serious business, but it just amuses me that, let’s just call them the extremists within the Republican Party, can’t even decide on how they want to be extreme together. I thought of it as sort of fanatic-on-fanatic violence last night,” Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.) said at The Hill’s Future of Defense Summit.

House Republicans on Wednesday evening shot down their own plan to avoid a government shutdown at the end of September, voting 202-220 on a funding package known as a continuing resolution (CR) that would have extended funding at current spending levels for six months, through March 2025.

The bill also included the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, legislation pushed by former President Trump that would require people to show proof of citizenship to register to vote.

“You had one group of people who were insisting that we had to have this ridiculous antivoting law and a six-month CR, and you had another group of people insisting ‘no we have to dramatically slash the budget.’ They couldn’t even get on the same page,” Smith said.

Fourteen GOP lawmakers voted against the package, including House Armed Services Committee Chair Mike Rogers (R-Ala.). The outcome was a hit to Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), who had planned a vote on the same package last week but was forced to pull it off the floor after numerous Republicans voiced their opposition to the legislation. 

Read the full report at TheHill.com.

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Wes Moore joins push for military families

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) was named the first honorary chair of a newly created initiative to bolster support for military families. The initiative, dubbed “Do Your Part: State Leadership to Support Military Families,” was created by the National Governors Association (NGA) and the non-profit Blue Star Families.

Through the initiative, the organizations will create a guide for all 50 states on how to better support military families with “low-cost, and high-impact solutions.” Maryland was the first to sign onto the initiative.

The toolkit will encourage states and organizations to collaborate in creating policies that benefit military families and advocate for changes on the state and federal levels.  

"Supporting our military families is not just the right thing to do — it's essential to our nation's security and future,” Moore said in a statement. “By providing them with the resources and community support they need, we are ensuring that those who serve can focus on their mission, knowing that their families are taken care of.”

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