Late Wednesday night, 43 Republicans joined 180 Democrats to approve an amendment to the energy spending bill that would have barred federal contractors from discriminating against workers based on sexual orientation, effectively turning President Obama’s 2014 executive order into legislation.

After the amendment’s passage, several Republicans told Mr. Ryan during a private meeting Thursday that they were not so keen on regular order, as the process of parliamentary rule-following is called, after all, according to members present.

Mr. Ryan said the collapse was to be expected. When he agreed to more amendments, he said, he understood “that some bills might fail, because we’re not going to tightly control the process and predetermine the outcome of everything around here. Well, that’s what happened here today.”

The failure of Mr. Ryan to push through a basic appropriations bill comes as House Republicans concede they are also unable to produce a budget this year — also because of infighting in their ranks — and Mr. Ryan’s admission that major policy proposals being devised in the House will not be turned into actual legislation. These failures raise questions about what precisely Mr. Ryan is going to be able to accomplish as he and his colleagues struggle to gain relevance in the presidential campaign.

Mr. Ryan blamed Democrats for the bill’s demise; only six voted for the spending measure.

“They were looking to sabotage the appropriations process,” he told reporters. “The fact that the author of the amendments that prevailed then turned around and voted against the bill containing his amendment tells us they’re trying to stop the appropriations process in its tracks.”

But members of the minority party are rarely held responsible for passing the majority’s bill, and Democrats said they had numerous reasons to oppose it, notwithstanding the gay rights amendment.

Democrats seemed unable to contain their glee as they turned Mr. Ryan’s promise of an open process — one they often rejected while in power to avoid these very disputes — on his conference.