Internal disagreement among House Republicans has threatened to kill their proposed short-term spending bill to avert a shutdown and has complicated the conference’s attempt to display unity in its first offer to the Senate and the White House.
The budget extension expenditure cutbacks and border crackdown provisions were crafted by the House GOP’s Main Street Caucus leaders and the extreme-conservative House Freedom Caucus.
Twelve Republican members have already come out against the bill, and more are sure to follow suit.
Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), the House minority leader, has told reporters, “don’t know” if he has the votes to support the CR package. Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), a member of the Freedom Caucus who worked on the accord, has been vocal in his support for it and regrets that more conservative members of Congress have rejected it. If the plan passes the House, it is highly improbable that the Senate and White House, controlled by Democrats, will accept it without significant changes.
On Sunday night, a top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, blasted the proposal, saying that House Republicans want to “shut down the government.” The plan is an opening offer in discussions to keep the government open until September 30 and is intended to show a united front among House Republican lawmakers.
Due to conservative opposition, Republican leaders were compelled to reject a Pentagon appropriations package, now up for a vote in the House Rules Committee. If every member of the House votes and every Democrat votes against the bill, the Republicans in the House would only need four votes to approve it.
Some Republicans might be missing in action because of emergencies at home. A woman identified only as “Luna” has stated that she would be willing to cast a veto vote against the continuing resolution if necessary. After reading the bill, some people who said no or were on the fence about it may change their minds.
FreedomWorks and Heritage Action, two conservative advocacy organizations, have endorsed the CR deal because it strengthens conservatives’ negotiation position for future spending cuts and reforms and secures key policy achievements.
