House GOP leaders will hold a vote early Thursday morning on a spending bill that includes $1.1 billion in Zika funding, over the fierce opposition of Democratic leaders.

The vote — one of several to come — is expected to begin early Thursday, according to a GOP leadership aide. The last vote is expected just before 3 a.m.

ADVERTISEMENT

The spending bill cleared the House Rules Committee just minutes earlier in a rare late-night session.

The Rules Committee hearing began just after 12:15 a.m., against the backdrop of a dramatic, day-long protest by House Democrats who are demanding votes on gun control bills.

With no Democrats present, the hearing adjourned after about six minutes, after all Republicans who attended voiced support for the bill.

The hearing had been announced less than two hours prior as Republican leadership scrambled for their next steps during the chaotic floor action.

Rules Committee Chairman Pete Sessions (R-Texas) opened the hearing early Thursday with no mention of the Democrats' protest, which included several flagrant violations of House chamber rules taking including photos and videos live from the floor.

“I want to appreciate the evening of long work,” Sessions said during the late-night markup.

Democratic leaders in the House and Senate have threatened to oppose the GOP’s deal, which was unveiled just hours earlier.

The GOP’s bill comes short of the $1.9 billion requested by President Obama — only about $400 million is new funding.

A total of $750 million has been shuffled from other government healthcare funds, including ObamaCare and Ebola.

Republicans had planned to file their bill late Wednesday, with a vote Thursday or Friday. That vote could now take place early Thursday morning. But even before the deal was officially unveiled, it was soundly rejected by Democratic leaders.

“It is clear that once again, Republicans have put political games ahead of the health and safety of the American people, particularly pregnant women and their babies,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest wrote in a statement late Wednesday, about an hour before details were formally released.

The sharp divisions over the Zika funding bill have been months in the making. Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers Harold (Hal) Dallas RogersHouse Democrats push for resuming aid to Palestinians in spending bill House panel approves bill funding WHO, paring back abortion restrictions Democrats take aim at Trump's policies on 2021 funding markups MORE (R-Ky.) and his House GOP colleagues have been firmly opposed to supplying the full $1.9 billion requested by Obama to fight the virus, calling it the equivalent of a “blank check.”