House Republicans emerged from negotiations on Thursday cautious yet hopeful they are close to an agreement on spending legislation just over a week before government funding is set to lapse, leading to a shutdown.
GOP lawmakers unveiled a new plan to advance single-subject appropriations bills instead of the continuing resolution proposal offered by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) Tuesday evening, hoping to spark movement on spending legislation just nine days before the shutdown deadline. The proposal is being led by Reps. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and Marc Molinaro (R-NY), who acknowledged the framework is not finalized but marking the first sign of compromise on spending legislation in days.
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“No final agreement except that there is enthusiasm behind a process that would have us moving on several appropriations bills, sort of simultaneously, considering amendments [in an] open process all meant to keep the ball moving down the court,” Molinaro said.
The plan would set the appropriations topline number at around $1.526 trillion without rescissions, which is the same amount that was offered by McCarthy earlier this week. The proposal would include a combined rule that advances four appropriations bills at once, teeing them up for votes sometime next week.
It’s likely the spending bills that would be included in the combined rule would be the Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, and State and Foreign Operations appropriations bill, according to Gaetz and one other GOP member familiar with the matter. The fourth bill is currently being debated between the Agriculture appropriations or Energy and Water, Gaetz said.
The reasoning for these bills being chosen is so the House can vote on bills that provide a cut, unlike the two they’ve tried to vote on, veteran affairs and defense appropriations, which have been an increase in spending. For example, the State and Foreign Operations bill is a 15% cut under the fiscal 2023 appropriations.
Even if the plan manages to work, it won’t get them any closer to avoiding a government shutdown. However, House Republicans hope if they can pass some appropriations bills, it could strengthen their hand in negotiations with the Democratic-led Senate.
“Hell no, they’re not going to become law, “ Rep. Steve Womack (R-AR), a veteran appropriator, said. “But maybe it gives us an opportunity to have a stronger conversation during conference.”
Gaetz acknowledged they may be unable to get all 12 appropriations bills through the lower chamber ahead of the Sept. 30 deadline, noting, “We may have to pass some of them during a shutdown.” However, the Florida Republican emphasized he would not support any stopgap measure.
But the move is not off the table for all House Republicans, with at least one centrist member eyeing the option as the deadline nears.
“If there is not going to be a CR coming out of the House Republican caucus, then I will move forward with a discharge petition,” Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) said.
The Problem Solvers Caucus endorsed a bipartisan continuing resolution that would fund the government through Jan. 11, 2024. This came out because of the possibility that Republican holdouts would block any stop-gap funding measure.
Gaetz has been among the Republican holdouts who have remained adamant not to vote for a continuing resolution, telling leadership at least seven others would vote against such a proposal, putting any CR plan in peril due to their four-vote majority. However, Gaetz said all members involved in talks on Thursday “all had to give a little,” which is why he agreed to McCarthy’s top-line number in exchange for individual appropriations votes.
“I gave probably a little more on the top line than I would have liked to,” he said. “But it was worth it to me to give a little bit on the top line to liberate ourselves from the paradigm of continuing resolutions and omnibus legislation.”
However, he acknowledged there was a long road ahead of them.
"It may get worse before it gets better," he said.
The plan comes after the House adjourned Thursday morning, canceling initial plans to vote on a continued resolution over the weekend. It’s not yet clear when lawmakers plan to reconvene to begin moving appropriations bills, especially after House leadership informed lawmakers votes would not be expected over the weekend.
Several Republicans expressed criticism after votes were canceled, noting they would stay in Washington over the weekend and urging their departed colleagues to return.
“As House members were working on spending bills, McCarthy was telling people to go home for the weekend at 3 p.m. on a Thursday,” Gaetz said. “Pathetic. Low energy. This is why we are where we are. Any progress we are making is in spite of, not due to, McCarthy.”
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Lawmakers expressed optimism they could make substantial progress on spending legislation early next week, with Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-OK) saying a “lot of members [are] feeling a lot better about where we're at.”
“To the extent that we can show some momentum, Republicans are going to be in a much better position,” he said. “We got a lot of work to do in a week. And the reality is that neither the House nor the Senate have done their work like we should have. But we can't turn back time. We just got to do the best with what we've got.”