Republican colleagues implore holdouts not to shut down government

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (J Scott Applewhite/AP)

Allies of US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy have implored their Republican colleagues to drop their hard-line tactics and work together to approve a conservative spending plan to prevent a federal shutdown.

In public overtures and private calls, Republican lieutenants of the embattled speaker pleaded with a handful of right-flank holdouts to resist further disruptions that have ground the House to a halt and back Mr McCarthy’s latest plan to keep government open before next weekend’s September 30 deadline for a shutdown.