Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy's (R-Calif.) trial balloon on introducing a temporary Continuing Resolution (CR) when Congress returns from the August recess to gain additional time to negotiate a new federal spending deal is running into a vocal wall of conservative opposition.
Asked by The Epoch Times if he thinks he and other members of the House Freedom Caucus (HFC) can kill a CR, Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) left no doubt about where he stands.
“Yes, we will. I mean, I can tell you right now this gravy train is going to end. Again, we’re not even touching the interest on the debt; that’s going to exceed the entire defense budget of $832 billion in a few years. So we are [going to fight it], and we will throw caution to the wind," Mr. Norman said.
Similarly, Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) told a local media outlet he “will use every tool I have at my disposal to stop a continuing resolution structured that way and, frankly, to fight any efforts to continue to fund this government without radical reform for border security, at the Department of Justice, and at the Department of Defense, at a minimum.”
And on Aug. 10, Mr. Roy led a group of 14 members of the Texas House Delegation in signing a Dear Colleague letter declaring "federal funding expires on September 30, at which point we will no doubt face consideration of a continuing resolution (CR) or full-year appropriations measures to fund the Biden administration. Enacting a CR would unacceptably mean continuing the funding level and policies of the disastrous FY 2023 omnibus, which Speaker McCarthy correctly argued perpetuates the border crisis."
In their letter, the Texas representatives said, "Passing a full-year [Department of Homeland Security] DHS appropriations bill without forcing the significant change necessary to secure the southern border is equally objectionable, even with some policy riders. Therefore, while simultaneously working to reduce spending levels and address other urgent policy matters, we must use the power of the purse to force President Biden to end the carnage resulting from open borders. No appropriation should fund DHS until the necessary steps are taken to secure the border ..."
The letter concludes, saying, "Simply put, no member of Congress should agree to fund a federal agency at war with his state and people. We have a moral obligation to protect our states, our nation, and, importantly, the migrant children getting abused from the disaster transpiring at our southern border. No border security, no funding."
Other Texas Republican signers included Reps. Brian Babin, Wesley Hunt, Keith Self, Randy Weber, Beth Van Duyne, Nathaniel Moran, Michael Burgess, Michael Cloud, Lance Gooden, Troy Nehls, Pete Sessions, Ronny Jackson, Pat Fallon, and Morgan Luttrell. Only Messers Cloud, Weber, Jackson, and Nehls are HFC members.
Mr. McCarthy mentioned the possibility of introducing a stopgap CR during his Aug. 14 conference call with members of the Republican caucus that controls the House of Representatives by a slim margin of four votes. Mr. Norman said he expects more than enough opposition among the 42 HFC members to defeat a CR.
A spokesman for Mr. McCarthy notably did not take a stopgap CR off the table but declared the Speaker to be opposed to a year-long CR.
“House Republican appropriators have written their bills to reduce spending—in some instances taking bills back to Fiscal Year (FY) 2016 levels—and we are continuing conversations with all our members on ways we can get the spending in those bills even lower. We hope to bring more of those bills—with additional savings—to the floor when we get back in session, and we hope to avoid a year-long continuing resolution that would lock Democrat priorities into place,” the spokesman said.
At this early stage in the budget battle that has become, in recent years, an annual showdown on Capitol Hill, numerous House Republicans, including HFC members like Mr. Weber, are keeping their powder dry for now.
"He doesn’t like what he is hearing but hasn’t made any decisions. He would like to see what happens and what is included in a temporary CR if that is the road we go down," a Weber spokesperson told The Epoch Times. Other HFC members like Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) declined to comment "at this time," according to a spokesman.
A knowledgeable senior Republican aide described the present mood among HFC members as "just beginning to process what happened. They've been on trips, a number of them are on personal vacations, a number have big districts to cover, so there is no consensus. People are asking, 'Are there conditions for the CR? What's the time period covered?' We're just kind of all over the place on it at this point."
Mr. McCarthy's position heading into September is complicated immensely by four political realities. First, with such a slim GOP House majority, it doesn't take many HFC or other conservatives in the Republican caucus—such as those in the Texas delegation joining Mr. Roy's "no security, no funding" demand regarding the border—to sink a CR if House Democrats also oppose the measure.
Second, Mr. McCarthy proved his ability to negotiate effectively in January's momentous bargaining during the speakership vote, so odds are he can gain agreements with enough of the conservative dissenters to get an agreement through the House. But third, the House agreement will have to surmount multiple hurdles in the Democrat-controlled Senate, plus those erected by President Joe Biden.
Finally, there is the Biden Family Bribery Scandal investigation by the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, the House Judiciary Committee, and the House Ways and Means Committee. Mr. McCarthy has previously said, as evidence pointing to the president's possible involvement in foreign influence peddling activities by his son Hunter compiled by the investigation has mounted, an impeachment inquiry could be on the horizon. Should that happen, the budget battle could be lost in the headlines.
Meanwhile, Democrats like Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) observe the House conversation with a mix of pleasure and dread.
“I thought it was a good thing that he recognized that we need a CR,” Mr. Schumer told reporters during a media conference call. “We hope that our House Republicans will realize that any funding resolution has to be bipartisan, or they will risk shutting down the government.”