GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN VS. DEMOCRATIC HELP The House Freedom Caucus’ Monday announcement that it would oppose a “clean” short-term spending fix leaves Kevin McCarthy with two options on the spending fight: a government shutdown or enlisting Democrats’ help. The conservative group’s demands — namely that any bill that continues current funding levels must also include their priorities related to the southern border, the Department of Justice and “woke” policies at the Pentagon — are all non-starters in the Democratic Senate. Between a rock and a hard place: For now, some lead Republicans are convinced that lobbying Democrats for help is the better play. “It's a mistake to stumble into a shutdown. It’s just simple. Politically that’s not a good place to be,” appropriator Tom Cole (R-Okla.), who is also the chair of the House Rules committee, told Huddle in an interview. He added that he believes Democrats might get on board a stopgap funding bill, known as a continuing resolution or CR. “In terms of getting the votes for a CR, I mean if it's an agreed-upon CR, that's usually not a problem,” Cole said. Of course, appropriators aren’t personally the ones with a problem if a government funding deal passes with Democratic votes. McCarthy is the one it puts in a bind. We probably don’t need to remind you that members of the House Freedom Caucus were the ones who threatened to call for a vote stripping the speaker of his gavel during the debt deal — because he compromised with Democrats. Conference complaints: The conservative group actually hurt their own priorities with their Monday statement, according to one influential appropriator, who was granted anonymity to speak candidly. Disunity in the GOP conference gives Senate Democrats the upper hand on a government funding deal, the Republican cardinal said. Someone’s still in conservatives’ corner: There’s at least one member of leadership who sounded open to the Freedom Caucus demands — House Majority Leader Steve Scalise. The Louisiana Republican said late last week that he supports conservatives who are looking to tie border security measures to the appropriations process. “I agree with the concerns Chip [Roy] and many others have that we have to secure the border,” Scalise told Huddle. “I want us to keep pushing language. And obviously in the appropriations process in the Homeland Security bill is one place we would do that.” Contrary to the messaging of some of his colleagues, Scalise said he has greater concerns than the government shutting down. “I'm more concerned about us not getting control over spending and not putting limits on the damage that the Biden administration is doing to our country,” he said. TICK TOCK: Government funding runs out in just 39 days.
| 
No comments:
Post a Comment