House Conservatives Aren't Afraid of Sending Government Into Shutdown Over Spending: 'So Be It'
With the current federal fiscal year ending in roughly a month and no budget in place to fund the federal government after Sept. 30, the possibility of a government shutdown is looming.
Some House conservatives are just fine with that.
“If a shutdown occurs, then so be it if they’re not gonna stick to what [Speaker Kevin McCarthy ] agreed to, which is starting on a path of financial security, which we don’t have,” Republican Rep. Ralph Norman of South Carolina said, according to The Hill.
The view was echoed by Republican Rep. Bob Good of Virginia.
“Eighty-five percent or so of the government continues to operate, and most Americans won’t even miss it,” Good said. “And if that’s the leverage that we need to utilize to force the Democrats to accept spending cuts and an end to the harmful policies that are, again, crushing the American people — I mean, then we need to do that.”
In theory, the budget is supposed to be approved by the beginning of the federal fiscal year on Oct. 1. Given that the House has 11 days in sessions between now and the budget deadline, passage is unlikely.
Only one of the 12 budget bills required to fund the government has passed the House. The Senate Appropriations Committee has passed its version of the bills, but all spend more money than the House will support, according to The New York Times.
On-time federal budgets do not happen often, which leads to the passage of what are known as continuing resolutions to keep the government running. The Fiscal Year 2023 budget, which took effect last Oct. 1, did not receive final congressional passage until Dec. 23, 2022, according to The New York Times.
The House Freedom Caucus has staked out its position in a draft release, according to The Hill.
The caucus wants any continuing resolution to “include the House-passed ‘Secure the Border Act of 2023’ to cease the unchecked flow of illegal migrants, combat the evils of human trafficking, and stop the flood of dangerous fentanyl into our communities.”
The representatives also call on lawmakers to “address the unprecedented weaponization of the Justice Department and FBI to focus them on prosecuting real criminals instead of conducting political witch hunts and targeting law-abiding citizens.”
The position paper also seeks to “end the Left’s cancerous woke policies in the Pentagon undermining our military’s core warfighting mission.”
“Furthermore, we will oppose any attempt by Washington to revert to its old playbook of using a series of short-term funding extensions designed to push Congress up against a December deadline to force the passage of yet another monstrous, budget busting, pork filled, lobbyist handout omnibus spending bill at year’s end and we will use every procedural tool necessary to prevent that outcome,” the Freedom Caucus document said.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is trying to steer a course that appeases conservatives and avoids a shutdown, noting that the multiple investigations of the Biden family could be at risk.
“If we shut down, all the government shuts it down — investigation and everything else,” McCarthy said, according to the Times. “It hurts the American public.”
Not everyone buys that line of reasoning.
“It’s not as if the investigators won’t be considered necessary or essential personnel. He is the one who decides how much of the House we shut down,” Republican Rep. Ken Buck of Colorado said.
Republican Rep. Matt Rosendale of Montana dismissed McCarthy’s argument.
“We are not going to be distracted by shiny objects, saying if you don’t get this continuing resolution passed, we won’t be able to pursue the impeachment inquiry. That’s nonsense,” he said.
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