The 'freedom caucus' is making waves and threatening to oust the Speaker if he doesn't do as he is told. Seems they don't want to abide by the deal made back in the spring to get the debt ceiling raised. The Senate is basically done - now about that House.....
The Wall Street Journal
ASHINGTON—House Speaker Kevin McCarthy laid out a road map for passing legislation to keep the government funded past Oct. 1, sparking complaints from spending hawks and fresh grumbling that he should be ousted from his post.
In a closed-door meeting with House Republicans, the California Republican proposed bringing a package of national-security oriented spending bills to the House floor, while aiming to pass a short-term bill called a continuing resolution to buy time to hammer out an agreement on funding the rest of the government for fiscal 2024.
But with the proposal still fresh, a group of conservatives derailed a planned procedural vote on the centerpiece of that package—an $826.45 billion annual defense-spending bill that includes a 5.2% pay raise for service members and provides a big boost to starting pay for new recruits. The delay in Wednesday’s procedural vote pointed to more trouble ahead.
“We’re just working through,” McCarthy told reporters. He said that House GOP leaders were highlighting the increased starting pay, saying that “just walking through the members about what’s in the bill is very important, making sure we’re prepared in our defense to protect America.”
McCarthy is trying to steer the GOP conference toward a deal that is palatable for most Republicans amid sharp criticism of his leadership by hard-right members. Some conservatives have insisted they are willing to shut the government down if needed to secure deeper reductions in spending, more border security and cutting aid for Ukraine.
Any deal would then need to be worked out with the Democratic-controlled Senate, which is on track to pass spending bills at higher levels.
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R., Fla.) upped the ante on Tuesday by saying that he would force a vote on ousting McCarthy as speaker if he put an unsatisfactory continuing resolution on the floor for a vote. A continuing resolution continues government funding at the prior fiscal year’s levels. Leaving the House GOP meeting early, Gaetz kept his head down and answered almost no questions. But some other conservatives said that they would be ready to vote against McCarthy.
“I would,” said Rep. Dan Bishop (R., N.C.) when asked if he would vote to oust McCarthy. “Let’s face it—it’s time for some leadership.” Bishop, a member of the House Freedom Caucus, isn’t seeking re-election, instead running for North Carolina attorney general.
Under an agreement on House rules worked out in January, any single member can force a vote to vacate the chair, leaving McCarthy perpetually vulnerable to such threats.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/video/new...nto-president-biden/vi-AA1gC0ZU?ocid=msedgntp
In the meeting, McCarthy proposed combining bills funding three of the 12 annual appropriations bills—on the military; military construction and veterans affairs; and the Department of Homeland Security—into one “minibus” bill and attaching disaster-relief money to the package. It would exclude any additional money for Ukraine. He argued for advancing a short-term bill to fund the rest of the government into the fall to give lawmakers time to coalesce around funding those nine other appropriations bills.
Democratic and Republican leaders in the Senate also back a short-term spending bill.
“A lot of members are very intrigued by the speaker’s suggestion. I think it’s the right way to move forward,” said Rep. Dusty Johnson (R., S.D.), the chair of the Republican Main Street Partnership, which represents moderate House Republicans. “I don’t know if we have unanimity. But I would tell you that there’s a lot of momentum behind the speaker’s points.”
Conservative critics have called on McCarthy to pass each of the 12 annual spending bills on an individual basis before the Sept. 30 end of the fiscal year and to ensure overall discretionary spending is capped at fiscal 2022 levels, without resorting to what they see as one-off gimmicks. Conservatives have also said that they would oppose any continuing resolution that doesn’t include at least one victory, such as attaching a House-passed border security bill designed to cut down on migration at the border.
“If things are being packaged to force votes, that’s problematic,” said Rep. Andy Ogles (R., Tenn.), one of 20 House Republicans who had voted earlier this year against McCarthy as speaker. “If things are being packaged because they make sense and it’s a good package, then that’s a different conversation. But the moment that extortion is taking place, then the floor is gonna be chaotic.”
“The margins are thin,” said Rep. Steve Womack (R., Ark.). “We’ve got work to do.”
“Our main point here is we need to see the total plan, the total package, where the speaker wants to go,” said Rep. Chip Roy (R., Texas), a leader of the Freedom Caucus.
Asked about whether he was concerned that conservatives’ hard-line stance could end up forcing McCarthy to seek help from Democrats to pass a short-term deal funding the government, Roy dismissed the idea.
“I don’t expect that to happen because it would be an enormously stupid thing to do,” he said.
McCarthy’s plan puts him at a distance from the Democratic-controlled Senate and the White House. The Biden administration has asked for an extra $44 billion in emergency spending, with $16 billion for a disaster-relief fund and $24 billion in defense, energy and humanitarian funding for Kyiv, and almost $4 billion to deal with migration at the border, with much of that going for shelter and medical care for migrants.
McCarthy’s approach would fund only $16 billion of that total, wrapping it into the Homeland Security bill. That would set up a conflict with the Senate, which is currently debating legislation to fund a package of three of the 12 appropriations bills, dealing with agriculture; veterans affairs and military construction; and transportation and housing. Ukraine also enjoys broad support in the Senate, with a sizable but minority share of Senate Republicans opposed to more aid after Congress already appropriated more than $100 billion.
The briefing on appropriations comes one day after McCarthy announced that he had directed House committees to open a formal impeachment inquiry into President Biden. The impeachment inquiry did little to defuse tension within the House Republican conference, where many members say that investigations into Biden are unrelated to their other priorities, like curbing U.S. debt levels, dealing with an influx of migrants and addressing what they say are unfair probes by the Justice Department into people like former President Donald Trump.
The House has so far passed only one of 12 annual appropriations bills, while the Senate is this week turning to a package of three bills, on agriculture; veterans affairs and military construction; and transportation and housing.
The Wall Street Journal
Facing Fire, McCarthy Lays Out Plan to Avoid Government Shutdown
ASHINGTON—House Speaker Kevin McCarthy laid out a road map for passing legislation to keep the government funded past Oct. 1, sparking complaints from spending hawks and fresh grumbling that he should be ousted from his post.
In a closed-door meeting with House Republicans, the California Republican proposed bringing a package of national-security oriented spending bills to the House floor, while aiming to pass a short-term bill called a continuing resolution to buy time to hammer out an agreement on funding the rest of the government for fiscal 2024.
But with the proposal still fresh, a group of conservatives derailed a planned procedural vote on the centerpiece of that package—an $826.45 billion annual defense-spending bill that includes a 5.2% pay raise for service members and provides a big boost to starting pay for new recruits. The delay in Wednesday’s procedural vote pointed to more trouble ahead.
“We’re just working through,” McCarthy told reporters. He said that House GOP leaders were highlighting the increased starting pay, saying that “just walking through the members about what’s in the bill is very important, making sure we’re prepared in our defense to protect America.”
McCarthy is trying to steer the GOP conference toward a deal that is palatable for most Republicans amid sharp criticism of his leadership by hard-right members. Some conservatives have insisted they are willing to shut the government down if needed to secure deeper reductions in spending, more border security and cutting aid for Ukraine.
Any deal would then need to be worked out with the Democratic-controlled Senate, which is on track to pass spending bills at higher levels.
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R., Fla.) upped the ante on Tuesday by saying that he would force a vote on ousting McCarthy as speaker if he put an unsatisfactory continuing resolution on the floor for a vote. A continuing resolution continues government funding at the prior fiscal year’s levels. Leaving the House GOP meeting early, Gaetz kept his head down and answered almost no questions. But some other conservatives said that they would be ready to vote against McCarthy.
“I would,” said Rep. Dan Bishop (R., N.C.) when asked if he would vote to oust McCarthy. “Let’s face it—it’s time for some leadership.” Bishop, a member of the House Freedom Caucus, isn’t seeking re-election, instead running for North Carolina attorney general.
Under an agreement on House rules worked out in January, any single member can force a vote to vacate the chair, leaving McCarthy perpetually vulnerable to such threats.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/video/new...nto-president-biden/vi-AA1gC0ZU?ocid=msedgntp
In the meeting, McCarthy proposed combining bills funding three of the 12 annual appropriations bills—on the military; military construction and veterans affairs; and the Department of Homeland Security—into one “minibus” bill and attaching disaster-relief money to the package. It would exclude any additional money for Ukraine. He argued for advancing a short-term bill to fund the rest of the government into the fall to give lawmakers time to coalesce around funding those nine other appropriations bills.
Democratic and Republican leaders in the Senate also back a short-term spending bill.
“A lot of members are very intrigued by the speaker’s suggestion. I think it’s the right way to move forward,” said Rep. Dusty Johnson (R., S.D.), the chair of the Republican Main Street Partnership, which represents moderate House Republicans. “I don’t know if we have unanimity. But I would tell you that there’s a lot of momentum behind the speaker’s points.”
Conservative critics have called on McCarthy to pass each of the 12 annual spending bills on an individual basis before the Sept. 30 end of the fiscal year and to ensure overall discretionary spending is capped at fiscal 2022 levels, without resorting to what they see as one-off gimmicks. Conservatives have also said that they would oppose any continuing resolution that doesn’t include at least one victory, such as attaching a House-passed border security bill designed to cut down on migration at the border.
“If things are being packaged to force votes, that’s problematic,” said Rep. Andy Ogles (R., Tenn.), one of 20 House Republicans who had voted earlier this year against McCarthy as speaker. “If things are being packaged because they make sense and it’s a good package, then that’s a different conversation. But the moment that extortion is taking place, then the floor is gonna be chaotic.”
“The margins are thin,” said Rep. Steve Womack (R., Ark.). “We’ve got work to do.”
“Our main point here is we need to see the total plan, the total package, where the speaker wants to go,” said Rep. Chip Roy (R., Texas), a leader of the Freedom Caucus.
Asked about whether he was concerned that conservatives’ hard-line stance could end up forcing McCarthy to seek help from Democrats to pass a short-term deal funding the government, Roy dismissed the idea.
“I don’t expect that to happen because it would be an enormously stupid thing to do,” he said.
McCarthy’s plan puts him at a distance from the Democratic-controlled Senate and the White House. The Biden administration has asked for an extra $44 billion in emergency spending, with $16 billion for a disaster-relief fund and $24 billion in defense, energy and humanitarian funding for Kyiv, and almost $4 billion to deal with migration at the border, with much of that going for shelter and medical care for migrants.
McCarthy’s approach would fund only $16 billion of that total, wrapping it into the Homeland Security bill. That would set up a conflict with the Senate, which is currently debating legislation to fund a package of three of the 12 appropriations bills, dealing with agriculture; veterans affairs and military construction; and transportation and housing. Ukraine also enjoys broad support in the Senate, with a sizable but minority share of Senate Republicans opposed to more aid after Congress already appropriated more than $100 billion.
The briefing on appropriations comes one day after McCarthy announced that he had directed House committees to open a formal impeachment inquiry into President Biden. The impeachment inquiry did little to defuse tension within the House Republican conference, where many members say that investigations into Biden are unrelated to their other priorities, like curbing U.S. debt levels, dealing with an influx of migrants and addressing what they say are unfair probes by the Justice Department into people like former President Donald Trump.
The House has so far passed only one of 12 annual appropriations bills, while the Senate is this week turning to a package of three bills, on agriculture; veterans affairs and military construction; and transportation and housing.
