(RALEIGH) -- Republican leaders at the General Assembly planned to work through the night in order finish up the bulk of session work by early Friday. But the toll of the week-long push began to show as members got a bit testy.

Rep. Tim Moore, R-Cleveland, attempted to add dozens of additional bills to the House calendar shortly before 11 p.m. That move prompted a rare public objection from fellow Republican, Rep. Edgar Starnes.

“We’re looking at a three-page supplemental calendar," said Starnes. "One whole page of which are bills on second and third readings that have never been considered by this body before. I don’t know how many amendments it will take. I don’t know how much discussion there will be. But folks we’re tired, we’re not in a position to think clearly and pass good legislation.”

Later that evening, House leaders announced plans to come back at 10 a.m. on Friday along with an additional session on Saturday. The Senate also pushed back adjournment plans – adding a 9 p.m. session on Friday and a likely brief Saturday session just past midnight. Note the different start times for the two chambers.

House and Senate Republicans also seemed to be reading from different pages of the script.

At one point, a bill that would rollback key provisions in the so-called Racial Justice Act looked certain to pass before the adjournment deadline.  The legislation would scrap portions of the 2009 law, which allows death row inmates to have their sentences changed to life in prison without parole if they can prove racial bias.

The House spent nearly an hour debating the bill before a mostly party-line vote of 63-53 sent the measure back to the Senate. More details here. However, Sen. Tom Apodaca, R-Henderson, told reporters the Senate wouldn’t take up the issue until the short session next year.

"We didn't know it was coming over, and we have our evening planned, and that wasn't in our plans," said Apodaca. "When we come back next May, that'll be one of the first bills on the agenda."

I asked House Speaker Thom Tillis, R-Mecklenburg, about Apodaca’s comments. Tillis said that he had since talked to Senate leaders and expected the bill to come up before adjournment.

However, Apodaca again said the Racial Justice Act changes wouldn’t come up this year. Likewise, he pointed out that several African-American senators had already left after being told the bill wouldn’t be on the calendar. Members of the Legislative Black Caucus were going to an annual scholarship event that had been planned far in advance.

Starnes’ comments and the miscommunication on the Racial Justice Act rollback suggest that lawmakers may not have much “gas left in the tank” after two weeks of lengthy work-days – and often work-nights.  It’s certainly not every day that you see members of the same party challenge each other on the House floor or through the press.  Those disagreements are usually resolved privately.

I’m guessing the final motion to adjourn will be followed by one that's slightly less-formal: the motion to sleep.