Rep. Chip Roy of Texas is urging his Republican colleagues to vote against the sweeping bill to fund the government throughout the end of the year, highlighting funding that is contrary to conservative stances.
Mr. Roy sent a letter to his colleagues on Tuesday, noting the billions of dollars in aid going to several countries in Central America, to equity programs, and to global organizations such as the World Health Organization. Mr. Roy also pointed to the nation’s $30 trillion of debt.
“As Congress prepares to vote on yet another measure that will continue to fund this administration, Republicans should take a hard look at exactly how these dollars are being used,” Mr. Roy said. “Each time we vote to ’fund the government,’ we are voting to provide funding to each one of these terrible agencies, programs, and policies.”
So far, more than 40 House Republicans and 14 senators have vowed to at least oppose any omnibus spending bill or continuing resolution into a lame-duck session.
Among those who have pledged opposition are Reps. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, Matt Gaetz of Florida, Jim Banks of Indiana, and Jim Jordan of Ohio. The senators on board include Ted Cruz of Texas, Rick Scott of Florida, and Tommy Tuberville of Alabama.
Mr. Roy pointed to several areas within the Biden administration he calls out-of-step with Republican promises to fight against its policies.
“The letter we put out was simply saying ’Guys, if you’re not going to fight, if you’re not going to have a spending debate in September because you want to cry in the corner about shutdowns and heading into an election, can you at least only support a clean, continuing resolution with no additional spending piled on? Keep funding at current levels, which are of course horrible. Can you at least do that?’ And the answer from my Republican colleagues is that a majority won’t even sign a letter to do that,” he told The Hill Country Patriot on Tuesday.
Among the areas of disagreement, the lawmaker notes $158 million in military support for Mexico, $45 billion for the National Institutes of Health, $122 million for the World Health Organization, and millions more going to diversity and equity training programs.
Republicans have also been under pressure by outside conservative groups to take a stand against the Biden administration.
“Only 42!?” read a tweet from FreedomWorks, referencing the number of Republicans who pledged against the funding bill.
Jessica Anderson, president of Heritage Action, urged congressional conservatives to unite against funding Democrats’ agenda.
“Conservatives have seen this lame-duck omnibus strategy play out before and shouldn’t expect a different result this year,” Ms. Anderson said. “They must unite to stand up for voters and protect our country from a third year of Biden, Schumer and Pelosi’s agenda.”
The Senate returned Tuesday to take a procedural vote on a stopgap funding measure to keep the government open beyond Friday.
Most of the opposition in the Senate revolves around an energy provision proposed by Sen. Joe Manchin III, West Virginia Democrat, that is holding up votes from both sides of the aisle.
Federal funding will lapse without action by midnight Friday, which would result in a government shutdown.
The spending bill, under current consideration, would extend funding until Dec. 16.
• Mica Soellner can be reached at msoellner@washingtontimes.com.
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