The White House’s budget czar on Friday claimed that House Republicans trying to renegotiate spending levels ahead of a deadline to fund the government is going back on their word.
White House Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda Young said she’s not optimistic about avoiding a partial government shutdown in the coming weeks as negotiations on a new overall, or top-line, spending number between House Speaker Mike Johnson, Louisiana Republican, and Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat, trudge on.
House Republicans have split from their colleagues in the Senate and are pushing for cuts in the top-line spending number that was established through the debt ceiling deal last year.
The current talks, which inched along through December and into the new year, come as the first deadline to fund the government is just two weeks away.
Ms. Young, a key player in the debt ceiling negotiations, argued that yet another collision course with a partial shutdown was preventable because the reason the White House and Congress did the debt ceiling deal was to establish a top-line spending cap.
“We have to remind people this budget agreement was not a handshake; it was a vote of Congress. It is not optional,” she said. “They have to keep their word and live by the numbers that were agreed to.”
She continued, “That is the only way to get appropriations bills done without the threat of shutdown.”
Negotiations between Mr. Johnson and Mr. Schumer have yielded some results, albeit nothing concrete. A possible agreement could see a reduction in nondefense spending while maintaining the debt ceiling deal’s defense spending levels.
Should negotiations fail or Congress misses the Jan. 19 deadline, there would probably be a partial government shutdown or attempts to pass a yearlong stopgap bill to keep the government running — a move that would also trigger a 1% cut across the board in spending from the debt deal that could affect defense spending. That cut would be effective April 30.
Ms. Young said in the case of a yearlong stopgap, the White House would prefer a bill that conforms to the debt ceiling deal, but stressed she couldn’t imagine who would allow the 1% cut with ongoing conflicts worldwide.
“I’m going to remain optimistic that people know that’s a bad place to be in and that cooler heads will prevail,” she said.
Securing a decreased top line may not be enough for a growing contingent of House Republicans trying to leverage the White House and Democrat-led Senate to pass their border bill or face a government shutdown.
Conservatives from the House Freedom Caucus are leading the charge on that stance and heated up their rhetoric following a trip to the U.S./Mexico border Wednesday.
“I refuse to continue funding a government that will not keep American citizens safe by securing our southern border,” Rep. Bob Good, Virginia Republican and chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, said on X.
Mr. Johnson has not publicly sided with the shutdown stance but has pressed for the inclusion of the House’s border bill, H.R. 2, in President Biden’s supplemental funding request that includes billions for Ukraine, Taiwan, Israel and border funding.
Reports on Friday indicated that Mr. Johnson wants to open a line of communication with Mr. Biden to negotiate the border bill, a move Ms. Young called not “serious.”
Ms. Young said the rhetoric coming from Republicans after their border trip doesn’t give her much optimism for avoiding a partial shutdown on Jan. 19, adding it’s up to Mr. Johnson’s GOP leadership to decide what happens.
“So while I think leadership understands this is a bad path, the question is, can they hold back the floodgates?” she said.
• Alex Miller can be reached at amiller@washingtontimes.com.
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