House Republicans have been in power for nearly two years \u2014 and they\u2019re still unable to solve fiscal problems within their ranks.<\/p>\n
The belligerent nature of the conference, coupled with a historically narrow majority, has made it almost impossible for any GOP leader to appease each corner of their constituency when nearly every Republican vote is necessary to pass bills along party lines.<\/p>\n
Now House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is once again in the middle of the tensions that almost a year ago saw his predecessor ousted in part for refusing to fund the government the way a small group of far-right members demanded. But Johnson still worked through the weekend to rally support for his already-once-delayed proposal to avert an Oct. 1 government shutdown on terms friendly to the GOP, which he hopes to put to a vote this week.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe we can fund the government responsibly, and I believe we can do right by the American people and ensure the security of our elections. I defy anybody to give me any logical argument why we shouldn\u2019t do that. That\u2019s why I\u2019m so resolute about this,\u201d Johnson told reporters last week.<\/p>\n
Johnson\u2019s measure would extend government funding into March \u2014 longer than Democrats and even some Republicans prefer \u2014 and tacks on provisions requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote that election officials say are unnecessary and Democrats say they can\u2019t accept.<\/p>\n
Many House Republicans consider the effort futile, since a solid block of GOP opponents remain unpersuaded to vote for any temporary funding extension and the Democratic-led Senate and White House have already rejected the plan. If all lawmakers are present and voting, Republicans can only lose four votes from their conference to pass a bill.<\/p>\n
It all but sets up another fight between Republicans who want to prove to voters they can govern ahead of Election Day and others who would rather see Johnson fight aggressively for conservative policies \u2014 even if it means shutting the government down and risking their majority. The internal standoff could once again tarnish Republican efforts to send Johnson into bipartisan negotiations with the credibility to seek concessions ahead of the looming deadline.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s just be honest: Republican lack of unity has often sent us into negotiations with less leverage than we should have,\u201d Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) said. \u201cThat is a fact of being in a conference that values rugged individualism over collective action.\u201d<\/p>\n
In talks over the summer, Johnson and his leadership team sensed that a majority of Republicans would support extending current funding levels \u2014 known as a continuing resolution, or CR \u2014 until March 28, 2025, and attaching a voter ID bill that passed along mostly party lines in July.<\/p>\n
But the proposal was quickly met with continued skepticism from Republicans\u2019 pragmatic flank, and rage from some on the far right. A staunch block of hard-liners who have never supported a CR forced Johnson to delay a vote from Wednesday into this week. And many of those roughly dozen Republicans are not budging, as calls from across the conference for Johnson to \u201cget serious\u201d in negotiations grow louder.<\/p>\n
Senior members of the Appropriations Committee, which drafts full-year spending bills, agree with Democrats\u2019 preferred approach to extend current funding levels until December so lawmakers can pass new spending bills and clear the slate for the next president, whoever wins. The House has passed five of the 12 full-year spending bills, some with steep cuts; the Senate has passed none, but all 12 are also through the appropriations panel there.<\/p>\n
Appropriators were willing to back Johnson\u2019s measure for the sake of projected unity and to help him enter bicameral negotiations with leverage.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe speaker tried to deliver,\u201d Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole (R-Okla.) said. \u201cAnd he didn\u2019t lose because of people on my committee and people who wanted a shorter CR. He lost because of a disparate group of people who said, \u2018I don\u2019t like the long CR, I want this, I want that.\u2019 Come on.\u201d<\/p>\n
Johnson has remained adamant about twisting arms for his current plan, showing little willingness to renegotiate it. A year ago, then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) spent weeks gathering Republicans in conference rooms to cobble together short-term plans \u2014 once using a whiteboard \u2014 that were continuously rejected by members of the archconservative House Freedom Caucus, who wanted more spending cuts and border security. Eventually, he had to rely on House Democrats to pass a clean funding extension and avert a shutdown, a decision that contributed to his removal.<\/p>\n
But that style of just-for-show politicking is considered old-school by a new crop of Republicans who demand all-or-nothing fights, particularly on reducing government spending. Republicans have seen leaders such as McCarthy, Paul D. Ryan (Wis.), and John A. Boehner (Ohio) before him, go through the motions of passing a GOP plan to appease the far right, only to return from negotiations in divided government with a bipartisan deal.<\/p>\n
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), who has voted against CRs, said Johnson\u2019s current plan is a \u201cfake fight\u201d and GOP leaders \u201cwould cave at the end.\u201d Republicans from across the ideological spectrum have peppered Johnson with questions about the \u201cfinal\u201d funding plan, which have largely gone unanswered, as House Democrats and the Senate are waiting to negotiate after the House passes something.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf they were serious about what they intend to do, then pass the bill themselves. But they\u2019ve been unable to do that on their own,\u201d House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said at his weekly news conference. \u201cWe are simply asking traditional Republicans to partner with House Democrats in a bipartisan way.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even Senate Republicans are growing antsy. Sen. John Boozman (R-Ark.), who sits on the Senate Appropriations Committee, said the lower chamber had until the beginning of this week to show signs of progress or the Senate would need to craft its own bill \u2014 probably without any of the conservative policies that House Republicans demand.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the speaker is doing a very, very good job. You\u2019re just in a situation where you\u2019ve got virtually no majority and you\u2019re struggling with people who are just not going to vote for a spending bill in the House,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), who led a failed motion to oust Johnson as speaker earlier this year, said that Johnson should just start negotiating with Democrats rather than twist GOP arms \u2014 including hers \u2014 to support his plan.<\/p>\n
Republicans who oppose short-term spending extensions say such moves only add to the deficit, which the party has promised to reduce. Johnson often notes that governing on spending and other conservative priorities could become easier if Republicans control Congress and the White House again, but many of his far-right colleagues are tired of waiting.<\/p>\n
Unified GOP control is no guarantee of spending cuts, either: The debt grew from 102 percent of the United States\u2019 total economic output to 104 percent during the two-year span when Republicans last controlled both chambers of Congress and Donald Trump was president, according to the Office of Management and Budget. And the discretionary spending that Congress considers as part of the appropriations process is a fraction of annual government spending, which is dominated by programs such as Social Security and Medicare.<\/p>\n
Some far-right Republicans could support Johnson\u2019s plan if they knew he would be willing to shut down the government when the Senate rejects the bill. But both McCarthy and Johnson have broken with past Republican speakers by choosing to avert shutdowns, arguing that they did little to extract concessions from Democrats and earned Republicans the blame.<\/p>\n
But hard-liners believe that Johnson\u2019s reliance on Democrats for must-pass bills has already hurt his negotiating position.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen your enemy knows what you\u2019re willing to do and not do, it makes it very difficult to negotiate. So because Schumer knows [leaders are] not willing to shut down the government, they\u2019re going to, just like they have for the last two years, jam us,\u201d Rep. Greg Steube (R-Fla.) said.<\/p>\n
Pragmatic Republicans are growing frustrated at Johnson for still trying to keep the far-right coalition together for his current plan. But others are giving the speaker credit for trying to find consensus even if it is meant to send a message to the Senate.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re in the majority and you have to at least engage with your colleagues,\u201d said Rep. Michael Lawler (R-N.Y.), who represents a swing district that President Joe Biden won in 2020. \u201cYes, there\u2019s going to be people that don\u2019t vote for the final product, and if they\u2019re unwilling to pass an initial offering toward a negotiation, then you move on without them.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
House Republicans have been in power for nearly two years \u2014 and they\u2019re still unable to solve fiscal problems within their ranks. The belligerent nature of the conference, coupled with a historically narrow majority, has made it almost impossible for any GOP leader to appease each corner of their constituency when nearly every Republican vote […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":9608,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9607","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9607","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9607"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9607\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9608"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9607"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9607"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9607"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}