House Freedom Caucus doesn’t fear gov’t shutdown as deadline approaches

Congress must approve a government funding bill by Sept. 30 or the federal government will shutdown. While it may be two months away, both the House and Senate are about to spend the entire month of August in recess. Congressional leadership is working to take action as soon as possible. 

Congress needs to pass 12 appropriations bills every year. Those bills cover the federal government’s departments, agencies and programs. 

The House of Representatives may consider two of those bills during the week of July 23:

• Agriculture, rural development and the FDA.
• Military construction and Veterans Affairs. 

But this legislation could pit House Republicans against each other in a race against the clock.

The Freedom Caucus, a group of the chamber’s most conservative members, wants to review all 12 bills at the same time so they can ensure that spending has been cut to 2022 levels, or $1.41 trillion. 

“If the leadership believes that they’re going to be able to trickle these out two at a time, three a week, four a week, that’s just not going to be feasible. Because we will never be able to see what the total spending is until the very end,” Rep. Matt Rosendale, R-Mont., told reporters. 

The Freedom Caucus can exert great influence over the final product by threatening to withhold dozens of votes needed for approval. Caucus members predict that Congress will ultimately pass a continuing resolution to keep funding the government at its current level until a deal can be finalized. 

“I am not worried about a government shutdown at this point. I think that they’ll continue on, and then try to take it, run it out till December to be honest with you,” Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., said. 

“We should not fear a government shutdown. Most of what we do up here is bad anyway,” Rep. Bob Good, R-Va., said.  

Congress also needs to fully approve the National Defense Authorization Act which funds the military. The House passed its version and the Senate is working to do that this week. But the chambers will have to meet at the negotiating table to iron out the differences between their two versions. That will be a difficult task because the House version, passed along party lines, includes what Republicans describe as “anti-woke” measures regarding abortion funding and diversity, equity and inclusion.