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GOP tees up next round of spending bills but roadblocks, pitfalls abound

GOP tees up next round of spending bills but roadblocks, pitfalls abound


This article was originally published on Washington Times - Politics. You can read the original article HERE

House Republicans are gearing up to pass spending bills before the November election, but some lawmakers are concerned the same issues that bogged down last year’s appropriations process could emerge again.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, Louisiana Republican, laid out an aggressive framework for lawmakers to pass all 12 spending bills by Aug. 1, before a month-long break and a busy campaign season. House Republicans believe the more spending measures they pass, the more leverage they will have in negotiating final bills with the Democrat-run Senate and White House.

It got off to a good start last week when appropriators moved their first spending bill — Veterans Affairs and military construction — out of committee. That measure is the first domino in Mr. Scalise’s strategy and is expected to head to the House floor for a vote the week of June 3. 



House Appropriations Chairman Tom Cole, Oklahoma Republican, told The Washington Times that his main focus is getting the remaining bills through committee, and that ultimately it would be up to GOP leaders to advance them on the floor with the party’s razor-thin majority.

“We’re going to have to have near unanimity to be able to pass these bills,” Mr. Cole said. “That’s a challenge.”

Though Republicans were ardent last cycle about passing individual spending bills instead of a massive catch-all omnibus, unanimity proved hard to find. Far-right lawmakers routinely tanked spending bills and procedural votes over disagreements with House Speaker Mike Johnson, Louisiana Republican, about spending levels and policies. 


SEE ALSO: Congress preps for drama with spending, farm bill, Pentagon policy and election-year bombast


New York moderate Republicans also used a similar tact to block Mr. Cole’s transportation spending bill to stop cuts to rail funding and helped tank the agriculture spending bill over opposition to a provision barring mailed prescriptions of the abortion pill mifepristone. 

Those blockades ground spending work to a halt and ultimately prompted Mr. Johnson to combine the dozen annual spending bills into two colossal packages, which conservatives decried as a return to the Washington status quo.

Appropriators are confident they can stick to the plan this year and pass each bill one at a time, a process known as regular order in Hill jargon, but only if conservatives play ball.

“I think we’ll see a good opportunity to get these things through if all the folks that say they liked regular order will vote for a bill that their amendment may fail on,” said Rep. John Rutherford, Florida Republican.

Nearly everyone on Capitol Hill expects a stop-gap spending bill to push the spending fight beyond the elections.

The House’s archconservatives want to extend government funding until March, hoping that former President Donald Trump wins the White House and the GOP controls both chambers of Congress.

House Freedom Caucus Chair Bob Good, Virginia Republican, said the best option would be a six-month funding patch for the first half of the 2025 fiscal year, giving lawmakers until March to build conservative spending measures. 

“It takes the pressure off of a government shutdown that tends to motivate weak Republicans and all Democrats to do something that’s harmful to the American people,” Mr. Good said. “And that would also allow the will of the American people to be reflected in how the government is funded next year.”

Other lawmakers see a stopgap spending bill as the worst option, but one that is possible if the same rabble-rousers impose their will on the spending process again.

Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, who chairs the Appropriations Committee’s state and foreign operations panel, said a short-term funding extension would be “horrific.”

“A lot of folks who might be very well-intentioned don’t really understand the appropriations process and don’t understand the damage that a [stopgap] does, including, and frankly, just wasting money,” said Mr. Diaz-Balart, Florida Republican.

This article was originally published by Washington Times - Politics. We only curate news from sources that align with the core values of our intended conservative audience. If you like the news you read here we encourage you to utilize the original sources for even more great news and opinions you can trust!

Read Original Article HERE



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