Chip Roy says that the government spending fight is the House GOP’s sole leverage point.
Republicans Use Government Funding Standoff as Leverage
The standoff over government funding is House Republicans’ only chance to leverage their agenda against the Democratic-led Senate and White House, according to Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX), who is helping to lead a conservative revolt just weeks ahead of the spending deadline.
Congress has only 16 days until the government is scheduled to run out of money and enter a shutdown period, sending House GOP leaders into a scramble as they attempt to get all corners of their conference on board to advance the must-pass legislation. However, hard-line conservatives have threatened to withhold their support on any spending legislation unless other demands are met, putting lawmakers at a stalemate ahead of the Sept. 30 deadline.
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“The leverage point we have is this spending fight right now. It’s the only leverage point we have for the next year,” Roy told conservative radio host Glenn Beck on Thursday. “This is a fight. It’s the only real fight for the next 15, 16, 18 months, until the presidential election is adjudicated. So we’ve got to do that now.”
If Congress can’t pass all 12 of its bills before the end of the month, lawmakers will typically agree to a continuing resolution that allows the government to operate at the same spending levels until a new agreement is made — something conservatives say is out of the question unless certain provisions are included.
Among those demands are passage of the GOP-led border security bill and slashed funding for certain “woke” policies at the Pentagon. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) has been working with his right flank to iron out some sort of agreement, but nothing has been agreed upon yet, an aide told the Washington Examiner.
Still, McCarthy told reporters he hopes to push a short-term continuing resolution through the House as early as next week to keep the government funded, noting he would keep the House in session until a spending agreement is passed. Those comments come as McCarthy has expressed frustration with members of the conservative Freedom Caucus, especially after they sank plans to vote on the defense appropriations bill earlier this week.
The House was initially scheduled to advance that spending bill on Wednesday, but GOP leaders postponed its consideration due to a lack of support from key holdouts. It’s unclear why conservatives opposed the legislation, which McCarthy said was at the center of his frustration.
“I am frustrated,” McCarthy said on Thursday. “I don’t have one complaint by any member of what’s wrong with this bill.”
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Roy revealed that part of the reason the defense appropriations bill didn’t garner the support needed to pass is because conservatives are focused on the larger picture and seeking to keep overall spending levels down. But he also pointed to his previous demands to rein in the so-called “weaponization” of the federal government, such as the Justice Department.
“Some of us are just saying, ’Guys, we’re not going to break. We’re going to hold the line and say that we’ve got to get changes out of the Senate and the president,’” Roy said. “And that’s what’s currently being debated as we speak.”
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