House Republican leaders on Wednesday canceled votes scheduled for next week and are sending members packing for their August recess as their party struggles to pass annual spending bills.
The change comes as GOP leaders had to pull three spending bills from this week’s floor schedule because they didn’t have the votes to pass them with the party’s narrow majority.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise had set an ambitious summer floor schedule that envisioned Republicans passing all 12 spending bills by August.
They’ve passed only four — the funding bills primarily focused on national security — and will attempt to pass the measure that funds the Interior Department and environmental programs before the recess.
Government funding needs to be approved before the next fiscal year starts Oct. 1, giving lawmakers little runway to wrap up their spending work once they return on Sept. 9.
Last year House Republicans passed only one spending bill before the August break but came back and passed six more in the fall, along with several stopgap measures extending the deadline to give them time to finish their work and negotiate with the Senate.
This year they probably won’t ever get to pass seven, even though appropriators insist they’ll try again to move some of the bills that got pulled this month.
“I think it’s just the nature of it being an election year,” said Rep. Robert Aderholt, Alabama Republican and senior appropriator.
Democrats criticized the GOP’s false start on spending.
“It comes as no shock to anybody that House Republicans cannot manage the House of Representatives,” said Rep. Steny H. Hoyer, Maryland Democrat and former No. 2 party leader.
House Speaker Mike Johnson downplayed the decision to adjourn a week early, saying it’s “not related” to spending bills struggles.
“We’ve had a tumultuous couple of weeks in American politics and everybody is, to be honest, still tired from our convention,” the Louisiana Republican said. “We’ll come back and regroup and continue to work on these bills.”
Mr. Johnson also cited the funeral services for the late Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, Texas Democrat, that he said are expected to span three days next week.
Regardless of the reason, some lawmakers are unhappy with the decision to cut the work schedule short.
“It’s disappointing,” said Rep. Matt Gaetz, Florida Republican. “Right now the country wants to see us fighting to get answers, fighting to get solutions on the border and starting summer vacation a week early is not the right message.”
Mr. Gaetz forced Kevin McCarthy out of the speaker’s office last year, citing the California Republican’s failure to pass individual spending bills championing conservative policies and lower spending. He said he is disappointed that Republicans are again struggling to achieve that objective.
“We need more Republicans who want to cut spending. We don’t have enough,” Mr. Gaetz said.
Republicans’ struggles on the spending bills started early this year when the measure funding Congress’ own budget failed on the floor amid opposition from 10 Republicans and all but three Democrats.
The legislative branch spending bill failed, in part, because of a provision that would have blocked an increase in pay for lawmakers.
The other bills pulled from the floor before they could fail had several issues, including conservatives wanting to further cut funding to various domestic programs and Republicans upset about projects in their districts that were not funded.
The blown-up spending schedule solidified lawmakers’ expectations that Congress will need to pass at least one stopgap bill in September to keep the government open.
• Lindsey McPherson can be reached at lmcpherson@washingtontimes.com.
• Alex Miller can be reached at amiller@washingtontimes.com.
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