Several Republican lawmakers are disappointed with Speaker Mike Johnson’s latest funding bill, arguing that it will continue levels of spending that are unsustainable.
Johnson introduced the new continuing resolution (CR) on Sunday after his initial funding bill, a six-month CR with an attached bill requiring proof of citizenship for voter registration known as the SAVE Act, was blocked on Sept. 18 by 14 Republican lawmakers who cited fiscal concerns. Several Republicans, such as Rep. Warren Davidson of Ohio and Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, have called the latest CR “disappointing” and said that it is “par for the course.”
“Congress is in desperate need of major reform,” Rep. Eli Crane of Arizona said Sunday in a post on X. “The Uniparty has gotten away with this for far too long. And it’s all at the expense of the American people.”
“It’s disappointing,” Davidson told The Hill. “But unfortunately the surrender caucus came together to make sure we keep the status-quo plays going.”
The new CR omitted the SAVE Act altogether, and it also includes $231 million of additional funding for the U.S. Secret Service.
Johnson acknowledged that the spending bill was not ideal in a Sunday letter, but claimed it would be “political malpractice” to opt for a government shutdown.
“While this is not the solution any of us prefer, it is the most prudent path forward under the present circumstances,” Johnson wrote. “As history has taught and current polling affirms, shutting the government down less than 40 days from a fateful election would be an act of political malpractice.”
“It’s the right thing; it’s all he’s got,” Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska told The Hill. “He’s got to do it. He’s got no choice.”
Republican hardliners typically avoid December deadlines because of the added pressures to pass a funding bill ahead of the holiday season. However, Republican House leadership staff reiterated in a press call Sunday that Johnson intends to avoid an omnibus funding bill.
“At the rate we’re going, we’re adding about $1 TRILLION to the national debt every 100 days or so,” Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado said in a Sunday post on X. “There’s no way we can sustain this as a country!”
“This week, the House will be considering SIX pieces of legislation to rename Post Offices throughout America, but guess how many individual Appropriations bills we will work on,” Rep. Matt Rosendale of Montana said in a Monday post. “You guessed it- ZERO! The American people deserve better.”
Johnson’s first funding bill was abruptly pulled from the House floor on Sept. 11 after nearly a dozen Republicans publicly said they would vote against it. Johnson aimed to “build consensus” through the weekend and reintroduced the CR the following week, but it failed the House.
“He was never going to fight on anything,” Massie told The Hill. “He wasn’t going to fight on [the SAVE Act]. They were going to drop that at the first sign of trouble.”
“I would say what he’s done is par for the course,” he continued.
The House has not passed all twelve appropriations bills since the 1997 fiscal year.
This year, the House only passed five of the twelve appropriations bills leading up to the fiscal deadline, while the Senate hasn’t passed any.
“House GOP has been doing its job,” Johnson said in a post on X. “[Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer] should consider doing his.”
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