Senate, House Republicans Throw Down Gauntlet on ‘Clean’ Continuing Resolution

Mark TapscottSeptember 21, 2022

Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and 13 of his Senate Republican colleagues are challenging other GOP lawmakers and Democrats in the upper chamber to adopt a “clean” continuing resolution (CR) with no additional spending or policy changes.

The letter puts the signers on a collision course with Senate Democrats, headed by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), regarding how the chamber deals with the requirement that Congress either adopt—and President Joe Biden sign into law—a completed 2023 budget, or approve a CR that keeps the federal government open after the Sept. 30 end of the 2022 fiscal year.

A CR provides “stopgap” funding to keep affected government agencies operating for a period of time that’s specified in the resolution.

Democrats are expected to push for a short-term CR that would end before the 118th Congress takes office in early January, thus requiring another vote. That additional vote would give the current Democratic congressional leaders an opportunity to fatten federal spending and add policy directives that a new Republican majority would almost certainly oppose in 2023.

Lee and his fellow Senate conservatives are seeking to force the issue among their GOP colleagues, many of whom may prefer the Democrats’ approach. It could also give them a chance to grab another slice of the federal spending pie.

“We must not accept anything short of a ‘clean’ [CR] that contains no additional spending or extraneous policy riders. At a minimum, any agreement on a clean CR must carry over into the beginning of the 118th Congress,” the 14 Republicans say in a Sept. 19 Dear Colleague Letter to the other 36 GOP senators.

“Failure to stand strong against lame-duck spending and caving to the Democrats will likely worsen inflation, prolong the current economic recession, and advance policies contained in the Biden administration’s progressive wish-list. The American people cannot