Freedom Caucus opposes short-term continuing resolution without conservative policies.
The House Freedom Caucus Demands Conservative Wins in Funding Battle
The House Freedom Caucus has made it clear that they will not support a stop-gap funding measure without tying it to conservative policy victories. This sets the stage for a contentious battle when the House reconvenes after its August recess.
Speaker Kevin McCarthy recently announced that a short-term continuing resolution will likely be necessary to provide more time for the House and Senate to pass and negotiate their 12 appropriations bills. However, this idea did not sit well with the hard-line conservative members of the Republican conference.
The Freedom Caucus’s Three Demands
- Support for House Republicans’ border security bill, the Secure the Border Act of 2023
- Addressing the alleged weaponization of the Justice Department and FBI
- Ending what they perceive as “woke policies” in the Pentagon
The House has already faced challenges in passing its appropriations bills, managing to pass only one before the August recess. The agriculture appropriation bill faced opposition from both the Freedom Caucus and centrist Republicans, resulting in it not being voted on.
Adding these demands to the funding process is likely to make it even more difficult, as Senate Democrats are expected to oppose them. This increases the chances of a government shutdown if an agreement cannot be reached. However, some Republicans do not view a shutdown as a catastrophic outcome.
“I’m pretty open about the fact that we shouldn’t fear a government shutdown,” said Rep. Bob Good (R-VA). “And if that’s what’s necessary to force spending cuts, then we should utilize that.”
Recognizing the limited time available to pass the remaining appropriations bills, the Freedom Caucus acknowledges that a short-term continuing resolution is likely. However, they want to ensure that it truly remains short-term and that their demands are met.
The caucus also opposes reverting to the old tactic of using short-term funding extensions to push Congress towards passing an omnibus spending bill. Speaker McCarthy has stated that he will not bring such a bill to the floor.
Other House Republicans share the sentiment of needing a short-term extension to get the appropriations bills passed and into law.
“If we need a few weeks, I can probably live with that,” said Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-VA), a member of the Freedom Caucus. “I think we should do two weeks, and if we need to do another week after that, fine.”
While the Freedom Caucus expresses openness to supporting a short-term continuing resolution at current funding levels, they remain committed to funding the government at the fiscal 2022 topline spending level without using “gimmicks or reallocated rescissions.” They oppose Democrats’ bloated COVID-era spending and demand that the Biden Administration follows the law and fulfills its responsibilities.
“Any support for a ‘clean’ Continuing Resolution would be an affirmation of the current FY 2023 spending level grossly increased by the lame-duck December 2022 omnibus spending bill that we all vehemently opposed just seven months ago,” stated the Freedom Caucus.
The statement also reiterates the Freedom Caucus’s opposition to providing a “blank check” for Ukraine in any supplemental appropriations bill. The Biden administration’s request for emergency supplemental funding, including aid to Ukraine, has faced significant pushback from conservatives.
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