Republican in-fighting over new spending bill sparks fears of a US government shutdown after the end of next week

The Republican leadership in Congress is rushing to redraw its budget plans, after a conservative revolt sparked the defeat of a crucial spending bill giving aid to disaster victims and funding the government's operations past the end of the month.

Unless a continuing resolution maintaining the flow of funds is passed before 30 September, the federal government will be forced to shut down – a crisis that was barely averted in April with just hours remaining.

John Boehner, the Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives, told a press conference on Thursday: "Listen, there's no threat of a government shutdown."

But Boehner's breezy confidence was not matched by some of his colleagues, especially those on the right of the party, with 48 Republican representatives joining with their Democratic rivals to defeat the continuing resolution on Wednesday.



While many of the 48 Republican rebels voted against the bill because of its increased spending implications, they were joined by Democrats opposed to the bill's $1.5bn in cuts from a programme to boost production of fuel-efficient vehicles.

Now the House Republican leadership is faced with either winning over Democrats by reducing the cuts or making further cuts to placate hardline Republicans and risk the bill being blocked in the Senate.

The vote is not the first time Boehner's plans have been derailed by the right of his party, and shows the difficult balancing act he has to perform. Mindful of how the government shutdowns in the mid-1990s ended up boosting Bill Clinton's re-election, Republicans are wary of giving the Obama administration a similar gift.

The defeat has the makings of a PR disaster for Republicans, since the bill also provided desperately-needed funding for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which says it has only a few days' worth of aid remaining for the victims of Hurricane Irene, the Texas wildfires and recent flooding.

"Never before has Congress decided to nickel and dime those in disasters. That's what Republicans are doing today, shortchanging those in areas who can least afford partisan gridlock," said Harry Reid, the Democratic party's Senate majority leader.

Boehner dismissed concerns that the continuing resolution would not be passed in time, saying: