House Republicans pressure holdouts to vote for short-term funding bill

House Republicans postponed an initial vote on their continuing resolution (CR) to keep the government funded until Oct. 31, as they try to make changes needed to get more members of their own party on board. Now the moderates and conservatives who negotiated the bill are publicly pressuring holdouts to vote for it. 

“If my conservative colleagues want to vote against that, go explain that. Go explain that you’re voting against a 30 day, 8% cut to the federal bureaucracy while having a piece of legislation attached to it that is the strongest border legislation ever passed,” Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, said. “Again, to my so-called conservative colleagues, go explain that.”

“On Thursday I’m gonna vote to cut the government and I will vote to secure the border. I would imagine that would be a very hard vote for other Republicans to break with,” Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., said. 

Under the proposed continuing resolution, government agencies would have their budgets cut by 8%, but not military or veterans. The bill would fully fund disaster relief. It also includes a border bill that would end catch and release, restart the “Remain in Mexico” policy for asylum-seekers, increase detention capacity and resume border wall construction. It would not provide more money to Ukraine.

“This is the most conservative CR ever put forward. And for some of my colleagues to walk away from continuing to fund the government, from securing the border, from cutting spending and for protecting our vets is a mistake,” Rep. Stephanie Bice, R-Okla., said.   

Republicans believe the American people support these cuts because the national debt just surpassed $33 trillion. They also contend Americans are frustrated with the current state of immigration. However, Republicans will have to pass this bill on their own because Democrats say they won’t support it. 

“Not even the speaker’s own caucus is on board with his plan. More reckless cuts and more MAGA mad libs and zero chance of becoming law,” Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., said. 

Senate Democrats also call it a non-starter. 

“I’m very concerned about it. We went through this with the debt ceiling and there was an agreement between the speaker, the Republican speaker [and] President Biden. We move forward based on that premise. And now, of course, they are reneging on that agreement,” Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said. 

Durbin is referring to the debt ceiling agreement President Joe Biden and Speaker Kevin McCarthy made back in May. The pair agreed to increase the amount of money the federal government is allowed to borrow to pay its bills and reduce future spending. The current Republican bill does not stick to that agreement, it sets the spending level below the level agreed upon.

Averting a government shutdown will ultimately require a bipartisan vote. But no matter what happens in the coming weeks, lawmakers need a permanent solution for all of fiscal year 2024.