House conservatives oppose government spending deal before negotiators can finalize deal – Washington Examiner

Congressional leaders are dealing with a new headache after more than 40 House Republicans came out in opposition to any spending legislation that does not include core components of the party’s signature border security bill passed last summer.

While no deal has been struck on the remaining six appropriation bills, Reps. Bob Good (R-VA) and Chip Roy (R-TX), along with 41 other House Republicans, sent a letter pressing their GOP colleagues to oppose any spending legislation that does not include the party’s flagship immigration bill, H.R. 2.

The letter comes as House appropriators race against the clock to avoid a government shutdown later this week and heightens the risk of a partial government shutdown over the weekend. The members who signed on to the letter are threatening to withhold their support to leverage their “power of the purse” to undo some of the Biden administration’s border policies.

“There is an unprecedented assault on the safety of Americans and the sovereignty of our nation due to the ‘open borders’ policies of radical progressive Democrats led by President Joe Biden,” the lawmakers wrote in the letter, which began circulating on Monday. “The question for House Republicans, is what are we willing to do about it?”

Reps. Bob Good and Chip Roy leading a Dear Colleague letter urging lawmakers to vote *against* upcoming appropriations package

(Which, by the way, we still don’t have text for)

Shutdown is midnight on Friday pic.twitter.com/ds92CNhaaQ

— Cami Mondeaux (@cami_mondeaux) March 18, 2024

The hard-liners specifically came out against proposed provisions in the appropriations bills for the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Defense. The lawmakers underscored their opposition to several of the Biden administration’s border security policies, claiming they would not support any spending deal that “actively” funds its “open borders policies.”

The group also rejected proposals for the Defense Department, claiming the current spending levels would go toward the “radical politicization” of the agency. Lawmakers specifically cited the DOD’s abortion travel policy as well as its diversity, equity, and inclusion offices, which they say are “destroying morale and recruiting.”

“The power we hold in Congress is singular — described by James Madison as the ‘power of the purse,’” the lawmakers wrote. “Therefore we ask you to join in rejecting the appropriations package (or anything similar) slated to be before the House that will directly fund these disastrous policies, and choose instead to stand against this assault on the American people and use the power given to us by our founders.”

Members of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus have previously threatened to oppose government funding legislation in exchange for stricter policies at the southern border. Republicans often point to the GOP-led H.R. 2, the party’s signature border policy bill, as a starting point for border negotiations, but that bill has been deemed dead on arrival in the Democrat-led Senate.

It was already unlikely the group of hard-liners would have voted in support of the pending appropriations bill. Several members who signed on to the letter voted against the first six appropriations bills late last month.

Lawmakers were initially expected to release legislative text for the final six appropriations bills on Sunday afternoon to schedule a vote this week before government funding is set to lapse for a slew of agencies on Friday night just after midnight. However, a dispute over border security funding has threatened progress on the bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security, with text yet to be released as of Monday evening.

Six appropriations bills set to lapse in funding if a deal is not struck include the Pentagon, State Department, Labor Department, Health and Human Services Department, DHS, and foreign operations.

Five of those appropriations bills are finalized, and negotiations are complete, three sources familiar with the process told the Washington Examiner. However, lingering disagreements on the bill to fund the DHS have caused a delay in the full bill being released.

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The government is set to enter a partial shutdown if some sort of spending deal is not made by the end of this week that can make its way through the House and Senate and be signed by President Joe Biden.

However, if negotiations continue to break down over DHS funding, lawmakers may need to turn to another stopgap spending measure, something that negotiators on both sides of the aisle have expressed opposition to. 

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