Republicans postpone procedural vote on short-term funding deal  —  House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) postponed a key procedural vote Tuesday on a measure aimed at averting a government shutdown, as Republican leaders continued to try to appease hard-right members of the party.

McCarthy gets tough with the right  —  Boxed in by conservatives as a shutdown looms, the embattled speaker is punching back.  —  After months tiptoeing around the conservatives who have made his speakership a constant high-wire act, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy appears to be fed up — and ready to fight.