Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-IN) is threatening to stall legislative action in the House if Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) doesn’t impose more spending cuts, setting the stage for an intraparty showdown as Congress works to pass spending legislation before a September deadline.
In a letter addressed to the speaker on Tuesday, Spartz vowed to oppose all GOP-led rules votes “going forward” until McCarthy addresses any unauthorized or automatic spending by the federal government. The demands come as the House prepares to begin voting on appropriations bills next week, which could see delays if more Republicans join Spartz in her push for more spending cuts.
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“I would like to express my utmost dissatisfaction with the lack of leadership dealing with the fiscal state of our nation. Congress has abandoned its most important duty to the American people — to oversee spending,” Spartz wrote. “As you know, we can wipe our *** (you know what) with all letters and grandiose statements we are sending to the executive branch. Only money matters.”
The Indiana Republican pointed to at least three areas in which McCarthy must make changes, accusing the speaker of violating promises he made before being elected House leader.
One such promise was to crack down on unauthorized spending, which deals with funding for programs that have not been specifically approved by Congress. Roughly 70% of all government spending falls under this category, leading to a lack of oversight, according to Spartz.
Republicans proposed eliminating waivers for a number of those authorizations, but that idea was later shot down by McCarthy, who suggested handling such matters at the committee level — but “nothing has happened,” Spartz said.
“Recently, as part of our ‘debt ceiling’ debacle, you promised to create a task force to deal with this issue — nothing meaningful has happened,” she wrote. “We will be passing appropriation bills on unauthorized spending once again, waiving our rules.”
Spartz’s letter comes as conservatives have demanded increased spending cuts as part of appropriations negotiations — with some even going so far as to threaten to withhold their support on must-pass legislation if their demands aren’t met.
The threats have prompted criticism from Democratic leaders, who have accused Republicans of holding the economy hostage to advance their own “extreme agenda.”
“We're strengthening the economy and growing the middle class while they take the country down a reckless government shutdown path,” said Democratic Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar (D-CA). “When given the chance to do the right thing for the American people time and time again, they've chosen a path toward chaos and dysfunction.”
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Meanwhile, McCarthy has expressed confidence the House can pass all 12 appropriations bills before the Sept. 30 deadline. The House Appropriations Committee has already approved eight of the 12 spending bills it must pass each year to fund the government, teeing them up for a vote by the full chamber.
“We will get our bills passed, like I said we will — this is a new Congress with new leadership," McCarthy told reporters on Monday, brushing off concerns that conservatives would hold up the process. “The most important thing is not the Freedom Caucus. It’s America.”