Republican groups craft short-term bill to keep government open

Legislation would cut non-defence spending and boost border security, but faces headwinds.

Marjorie Taylor Greene opposes the funding proposals crafted by her party’s two main factions. Picture: AFP

Two major groups of House Republicans put together a short-term funding proposal to prevent a government shutdown, moving to break the deadlock in their party ahead of down-to-the-wire negotiation with Democrats to keep the government funded past Sept. 30.

The proposal unveiled Sunday by leaders of the hard-right Freedom Caucus and more-centrist Main Street Caucus contains sharp spending cuts and a border-security provision that will make the legislation a nonstarter in the Democratic-controlled Senate. But the proposed month-long extension signals that House Republicans are working to find a way to fund the government once the current fiscal year runs out, after efforts to pass legislation last week stalled amid conservative protests.

House lawmakers are expected to vote on the short-term continuing resolution, or CR, later this week.

It wasn’t immediately clear if the legislation would have enough votes to pass, as a handful of Republicans quickly took to social media to say they opposed the proposal. No Democrats are expected to back it.

The proposal would extend government funding until Oct. 31 but cut discretionary spending levels by about 8% for most government programs, including agriculture, labor, environment and homeland security. The cuts wouldn’t apply to the defense budget or the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Rep. Marc Molinaro (R., N.Y.) said the legislation would help avert “a government shutdown, bend federal spending, and secure the border.” Representatives for House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.) didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on the proposal. The text of the 165-page bill was posted late Sunday on the House Rules Committee website.

Republicans control the House with a narrow 221-212 margin, so even small levels of GOP opposition could sink the bill.

“I’m a HARD NO! I’m sick of the DC backroom deals,” said Rep. Cory Mills (R., Fla.) on social media. Rep. Dan Bishop (R., N.C.) said: “No CR. Pass the damn approps bills. Roll back the crazy bureaucracy.” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R., Ga.) also said she opposed the proposal.

Congress is working to pass the 12 annual appropriation bills that fund the government. Leaders of both parties in the House and Senate have thrown their support behind reaching a short-term deal to allow more time to pass legislation and reach a full-year spending agreement, but some House Republicans had insisted that no short-term deal be reached without significant concessions on contentious issues such as immigration, Ukraine funding and reining in federal spending.

Sunday’s proposal contains parts of a border security act that House Republicans narrowly passed in May, which would pour money into personnel and equipment, make it harder to seek asylum and cement into law Donald Trump-era policies such as resuming construction of a southern border wall.

The lawmakers behind the deal represent different brands of conservative ideology. Reps. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, Chip Roy of Texas and Byron Donalds of Florida are members of the House Freedom Caucus.

Other lawmakers who negotiated the proposal represent the Republican Main Street Caucus, which represents moderate House Republicans. Those included Rep. Dusty Johnson (R., S.D.), its chair, along with Stephanie Bice of Oklahoma and Kelly Armstrong of North Dakota.

The proposal doesn’t contain additional aid for Ukraine, rebuffing a recent White House request for billions in further support amid sharp opposition from some Republicans. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is planning to travel to Washington later this week to try to convince U.S. lawmakers to commit to sending additional money and weapons for his war-torn country. The Biden administration has asked lawmakers to approve $24 billion in additional funding for the country.

Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D., Conn.), the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, criticised the proposal.

“Less than two weeks away from a government shutdown, House Republicans are still more focused on introducing extreme funding bills...than working on bipartisan solution that could be enacted,” she said in a statement.

Siobhan Hughes contributed to this article

The Wall Street Journal