Two House Republican Caucuses Present a Short-Term Govt Funding Bill
It’s not just Democrats who oppose it. Republican Matt Gaetz: “This is a gift to Joe Biden. I’m opposed.”
Members from the House Freedom Caucus and House Main Street Caucus released a short-term government funding deal, a continuing resolution (CR), late Sunday night.
Freedom Caucus Chair Perry: HFC Members have worked over the weekend with the Main Street Caucus on a path forward to fund the government and secure America’s border. We now have a framework for our colleagues across the House Republican Conference.
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) September 18, 2023
Don’t you LOVE how all of this stuff comes out late at night or on a Friday? Totes not suspicious.
It’s also 165 pages long. I’m writing this before bed, so I’ll have to read/skim the whole thing tomorrow. I found some snippets in other outlets:
- 8% cuts to domestic spending except military, veterans, and disaster relief, which means a 1% cut overall
- Secure the Border Act of 2023 mostly included without provision requiring the use of DHS’s e-verify for employees
- Does not include funding for Ukraine or additional disaster relief
A source told The Hill that the bill includes an agreement “to pass an appropriations bill to fund the Department of Defense (DOD) for fiscal 2024 in tandem with the CR bill.”
The bill did not include the House leadership:
The proposal was not negotiated by leadership. Instead, six House Republican members from two of the five ideological factions — Reps. Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.), Stephanie I. Bice (R-Okla.) and Kelly Armstrong (R-N.D.) from the pragmatic Main Street Caucus, and Freedom Caucus Reps. Scott Perry (R-Pa.), Chip Roy (R-Tex.) and Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) — met for two-and-a-half hours Wednesday night to hash out parameters of a potential agreement, after far-right lawmakers prevented a floor vote funding the Defense Department until demands from leadership were met.
The bill will not pass the Senate.
But the bill might not even pass in the House if other Republicans vote against it. From Axios:
Yes, but: Conservatives, who have been consistently voicing opposition to the GOP’s spending proposals due to insufficient spending cuts and conservative policy, may still not be sold.
- “This is a gift to Joe Biden. I’m opposed,” said Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), who has threatened to try to remove House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) for trying to pass a stopgap bill.
- Another conservative lawmaker told Axios that this bill would be a “very tough vote” because it only cuts most non-defense discretionary spending by 1%.
- Several other conservative lawmakers told Axios they are either a “no” or leaning no.
The Republicans have only four votes to spare because Utah Rep. Chris Stewart retired last week.
The Republicans also have members out with illnesses; two are at home with new babies.
Yikes.
On Fox, GOP FL Rep Waltz says no Republicans have expressed specific reasons as to why they oppose the GOP defense spending bill. He accuses fellow GOPers of holding that bill “hostage” for other spending cuts
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) September 17, 2023
B) Rosendale: We were assured in January that we weren’t going to use the Democrats’ gimmicks to fund government and that we would deliver the 12 appropriations bills, thereby funding government responsibly and transparently, which is why I will be voting against the CR this week
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) September 18, 2023
A) Main Street Caucus ldrs Johnson/Bice/Armstrong: Congress must keep government open and secure the border. That’s why we’ve worked with leaders of the House Freedom Caucus to introduce a 31-day continuing resolution laser-focused on fixing the crisis at our southern border.
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) September 18, 2023
C) Main Street Caucus: We want to thank members of both the Republican Main Street Caucus and House Freedom Caucus, as well as a broad cross-section of other members from across the Republican conference for their contributions to this effort.
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) September 18, 2023
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Comments
Shut it all down. Every last bit of it. Then, force congress to review all spending, and compel the usual suspects to justify programs that accomplish nothing; review the existence of departments, bureaux, commissions, and agencies for their Constitutional basis for existing.
I know. Dream on.
But such a very pleasant one!
I agree completely, but with one exception. They shouldn’t get paid while the government is shut down and I don’t care what we have to amend that happen.
While getting no pay sounds nice, they’re still going to make a bundle off insider trading.
Tarring and feathers would a whole lot better to leave an indelible decision of the people upon these criminals.
Makes no sense. If you’re advocating a shutdown, then you shouldn’t penalize those who vote for one, or create yet another incentive for them to pass a CR, any CR, in order to avoid shutting down.
If we had a budget and used it we would be forced into these yearly CRs. If you really want to stick a knife in government waste then stop the baseline budgeting.
Shut all Representatives and Senators in their appropriate chambers. Lock the doors behind them, post guards at the doors, and don’t allow them to leave until an actual budget is hammered out and passed by both House of Congress and is signed by the president. They are not allowed to propose or pass a bogus “Continuing Spending/Appropriation bill, It must be an actual budget document. If this process takes multiple days send them water and sandwiches at the appropriate times for meals. Nothing more. They also forfeit all pay during this process. If necessary set-up some of those blue, porta-johns at the back of the chambers for members use. Etc. The idea being they are not allowed to leave for any reason. They have one job to do and they will remain until it’s done.
If that were to happen I’m more than sure an actual budget would be quickly passed and we’d avoid all these illegal Continuing Appropriations/Spending Bills. Guaranteed.
That would be entertaining. Each chamber would be a mausoleum because nobody would be alive after trying to do what they are incapable of doing.
I think that would be a net positive
An interesting suggestion, albeit fantasy. Who would do the locking? Not the Administration, not the courts, unless you’re ready to tear up the Constitution, and I don’t think we’ve quite reached that point yet. Congress is, by law, an entity unto itself, and there isn’t much we can do about it except try harder next election to elect more Ron Pauls and Chip Roys.
So you’re in the school that says “pass something, anything, just so we can say we did”, and are against standing on principle and not letting a spending bill pass until it’s right, or at least not as wrong as last year’s. Nice to know, because that’s the opposite of where most people on the right, and on this forum, seem to be.
Stop giving back pay when the government reopens and the problem will go away.
Maybe for ‘non essential’ bureaucratic positions they told to stay home during Covid. Some PFC shouldn’t get hosed due to Congressional incompetence.
If you really want use failure to get a budget and the separate appropriations bills passed on time and in regular order as lever/incentive then apply the ‘no back pay’ to Defense and other govt procurement, grants and subsidies. That would create incentives for the various lobbyists to ensure things got done on time and in regular order.
All “non-essential” positions should be eliminated. Yesterday.
WTF? Uh, forget something? Hints: DOJ, special counsel, republic ending lawfare.
We tried to satisfy the House Rs back in the early Obama years doing this very thing and it failed as this effort will. Government and the country can not be run from the House. Even if Rs somehow ever managed to have wide majorities in the Senate and House, these spending “cuts” won’t happen nor will the closing of any agencies of government. Washington does not run on less.
The house should defund the Ukraine War and stop all of the killing.
Mr. 10% has a lot of blood on his hands!
That would increase the killing. Putin is trying to exterminate an entire country. We can really stop all wars by abolishing the US defense department and think of the money we save!
It would hasten the inevitable outcome of the lines being adjusted roughly where they are at present and end the needless killing. Even many Ukrainians ain’t interested in fighting it out, Zelenskyy is now finally rounding up draft dodgers and jailing a few members of their incredibly corrupt govt who sold exemptions.
Putin is protecting Mother Russia from the West’s aggression.
Before Russia withdrew its troops from Germany, the West promised Ukraine would never be part of NATO.
Clearly, the West is not trustworthy.
Mr. 10% wants Ukraine to be part of NATO.
Next, the Brandon will send nukes to Ukraine.
I would not give a red cent to support Ukraine.
The USA is a chump.
Only the USA is providing massive support.
Biden has lots of blood on his hands!
You want to talk about keeping promises/commitments? Have you read the Budapest Memorandum, in which the Soviet Union (and Russia as successor) promised to respect Ukraine’s territorial integrity and not to use force to change its boundaries? Ukraine, like gullible idiots, at our urging accepted that promise (and the implied assurance of the US and the UK that it would be honored), and gave up their nukes. Fools.
“”Putin is trying to exterminate an entire country.””
I don’t think so. I think he’s trying to occupy it as he works to reconstitute the USSR and above all, keep Ukraine from joining NATO. The goal is a stable, defensible western buffer against NATO not to mention control of Ukraine’s resources and farmland. He could end up with the same influence over grain supplies as he has over oil. Obviously, he also wants to regain land access to Crimea and its warm water port. As Commochief suggests, they could sign a truce letting Russia keep control over the primarily ethnic Russian areas, letting Putin attain at least some of his goals (although I doubt that Zelensky would agree).
Rosendale is correct in his statement, also raising the debt ceiling until a specific date instead of a specific dollar was supposed to prevent CR.
They will also probably move some more sacred cow spending into the mandatory column in the process as well.
Don’t try to convince us we need to keep the government open “to secure the border.” If the entire government disappeared in a snap of Thanos’ glove, the border could hardly get any more insecure than it is now.