House Republicans will make another attempt to resolve their impasse on spending bills Tuesday, while one GOP lawmaker joined the ranks of those opposing House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s effort to prevent a partial government shutdown by the end of the week.
Rep. Lauren Boebert, Colorado Republican, has announced that she won’t support a stopgap bill that would extend the spending budget deadline beyond Saturday, the end of the fiscal year.
“A continuing resolution is not a budget process,” Mrs. Boebert wrote on X on Sunday. “It just continues the same levels of spending for longer. Our national debt grows. The overspending continues. We spend $2 TRILLION more than we bring in as a government. If we don’t start cutting now, then when do we start?”
Mr. McCarthy said Monday he is optimistic about Republican support to advance four longer-term appropriations bills while pushing the stopgap spending measure to avoid a government shutdown. He said he is confident that progress is being made.
But former President Donald Trump told congressional Republicans to shut down the government unless they get everything they asked for in the short-term spending bill, arguing that President Biden would be the one to take the blame if the government closes.
“The Republicans lost big on Debt Ceiling, got NOTHING, and now are worried that they will be BLAMED for the Budget Shutdown,” he wrote on Truth Social. “Wrong!!! Whoever is President will be blamed, in this case, Crooked (as Hell!) Joe Biden. Our Country is being systematically destroyed by the Radical Left Marxists, Fascists and Thugs - THE DEMOCRATS.”
Mr. McCarthy responded to Mr. Trump’s remarks, saying, “I think we’re much stronger when we stay open. I don’t understand how not paying the troops and not paying our border agents … what we’re trying to do is secure our border.”
He added, “That would be a part of funding the government, would be securing the border.”
The government’s budget expires at midnight on Saturday. The temporary spending bill has stalled in the House, where members can’t agree on what should be included or how much should be cut.
In June, the two chambers signed the agreement to raise the debt ceiling, suspending the debt limit until 2025. The agreement was made after a standoff between the two parties because Republicans refused to raise the limit unless Democrats agreed to cut spending.
Mr. McCarthy, California Republican, said he is cautiously hopeful that GOP holdouts will now support procedural rules that will help lead to the passage of four spending bills for fiscal 2024, which could also provide momentum for the stopgap measure.
He said GOP members who are resisting efforts to bring a stopgap measure to the floor should be supporting the funding of border security.
“I think bring these four [appropriations bills] together with the other ones we passed,” Mr. McCarthy said. “That would be 72% of the discretionary spending … already passed.”
“Nothing has happened in the Senate,” Mr. McCarthy said. “If you continue to fund [the] government while you solve this problem, so your military and your border agents get paid — and you have a continuing resolution that does that.”
Lawmakers will meet Tuesday evening to vote on advancing a rule with four appropriations bills set up for votes this week.
Those four pieces of legislation include spending legislation for the Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security and State and Foreign Operations appropriations.
Following that vote, Mr. McCarthy wants to bring a temporary spending measure to the floor for a vote this week before the government shutdown deadline, a move several conservatives still oppose.
• Kerry Picket can be reached at kpicket@washingtontimes.com.
• Mallory Wilson can be reached at mwilson@washingtontimes.com.
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