WASHINGTON—With the Senate returning this week and the House resuming in one week, Congress is bracing for a spending fight as a government shutdown looms when federal funding for the 2022 to 2023 fiscal year expires at the end of September.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has acknowledged the possibility of doing a short-term continuing resolution (CR), which would continue to fund the government at current levels, possibly with changes, to keep the government running.
“I do expect a short-term CR will be needed to finish all the work that we set out to do,” Mr. McCarthy reportedly told House Republicans during a closed conference call on Aug. 14.
“But I don’t want the Senate to jam us against the holidays.”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) reportedly told reporters on a call: “I thought it was a good thing that he recognized that we need a CR in September. I’m supportive of that.
“A CR until early December provides time for consideration of these bipartisan bills. We urge our House colleagues to emulate the Senate. The only way we’re going to avoid a government shutdown is by bipartisan support in both houses.
“You cannot keep the government open if you just want to do it with one party. We hope that House Republicans will realize that any funding resolution has to be bipartisan or they will risk shutting down the government.”
During an appearance on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” on Aug. 27, Mr. McCarthy expressed interest in doing a CR.
“I would actually like to have a short-term CR, only to make our arguments stronger, because ... if we shut down, all the government shuts down, investigation and everything else. It hurts the American public,” he told host Maria Bartiromo.
“But if we’re able to pass our appropriation bills, we’re in a stronger position to remove those ... ‘Pelosi policies’ that are locked into law right now—the wokeism, the overspending, the nonsecurity of this border.”
Mr McCarthy was referring to Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who preceded him as speaker.
The hardline conservative House Freedom Caucus has said that it won’t support a CR if it doesn’t include the Secure the Border Act of 2023, which the House passed earlier this year; address “the unprecedented weaponization of the Justice Department and FBI”; and “end the left’s cancerous woke policies in the Pentagon undermining our military’s core warfighting mission.”
The Freedom Caucus “will oppose any attempt by Washington to revert to its old playbook of using a series of short-term funding extensions designed to push Congress up against a December deadline to force the passage of yet another monstrous, budget-busting, pork-filled, lobbyist handout omnibus spending bill at year’s end,” and it “will use every procedural tool necessary to prevent that outcome.”
The caucus also “will oppose any blank check for Ukraine in any supplemental appropriations bill.”
Mr. McCarthy can only afford to lose four members of his own caucus.
In accordance with the Constitution, appropriations bills must originate in the House.
The White House slammed Ms. Greene’s comments.
“The House Republicans responsible for keeping the government open already made a promise to the American public about government funding, and it would be a shame for them to break their word and fail the country because they caved to the hardcore fringe of their party in prioritizing a baseless impeachment stunt over high stakes needs Americans care about deeply—like fighting fentanyl trafficking, protecting our national security, and funding FEMA.”
Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), a Freedom Caucus member, told The Epoch Times that while “there is talk and questions being asked on both sides of the aisle,” there are “no meaningful solutions.”
He expressed alarm that Mr. McCarthy won’t have spending levels be where they were before the COVID-19 pandemic, at just more than $1.47 trillion, “nor does he intend to give a top-line number for the remaining 11 appropriations still to be voted on, so his intention will be a CR until December, then a massive omnibus” with the help of Democrats, he said.
Mr. McCarthy has repeatedly said he won’t bring an omnibus bill, allocating government funding and putting in pieces of legislation, to the House floor.
A $1.7 trillion omnibus bill passed the then-Democrat-controlled Congress and was enacted by President Biden late last year.
The White House has refused to say whether it'll push for a CR, although it has asked for supplemental funding.
It also includes a request of almost $68.23 million for the Department of Energy related to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and relevant expenses.
During the debt ceiling debate months ago, members of Congress called for a supplemental defense spending bill that includes assistance to Ukraine.
Mr. McCarthy has rebutted these calls, while Mr. Schumer wouldn’t commit to bringing up such a bill.
The OMB also requested almost $758.6 million for U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement—$714 million to confront illegal immigrant surges at the southwest border and $45 million to combat fentanyl and other drugs coming over the border.
Ms. Young asked for $12 billion for the Federal Emergency Management Agency to respond to major disasters.
She also requested tens of millions of dollars for firefighters combating wildfires as “more than 20,000 heroic firefighters would face a pay cliff starting as soon as October, with salaries being cut to as low as $15 an hour” if Congress doesn’t take action.
Recently, the administration asked for an additional $4 billion in light of the latest natural disasters, such as the wildfires in Hawaii and Hurricane Idalia in the south, including Florida.
“The president has been clear that we’re going to stand with communities across the nation as they recover from disasters for as long as it takes, and the administration is committed to working with Congress to ensure funding for the [Disaster Relief Fund] is sufficient for recovery needs,” an OMB spokesperson said.
“We urge Congress to take swift action on supplemental appropriations.”
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre declined on Aug. 30 to say whether President Biden would sign a continuing resolution (CR), saying she wouldn’t “get into hypotheticals.”
She noted that the administration continuously engages with members of Congress.
However, the OMB has acknowledged the likelihood of a CR.
“It is clear that a short-term continuing resolution (CR) will be needed next month,” an OMB spokesperson told The Epoch Times in a statement.
“OMB is providing Congress with [the] technical assistance needed to avoid severe disruptions to government services in the first quarter of the fiscal year.”
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), the ranking Republican member of the Senate Budget Committee, told The Epoch Times that a government shutdown isn’t an option.
“Congress has a list of to-dos, and in order to get things done on behalf of the American people, the government needs to remain open,” he said. “It costs taxpayers money to shut down government and even more to reopen it.
“It’s also why I’m pushing to restore fiscal sanity through the regular budget process, so that Congress stops lurching from one fiscal cliff to the next.
“Most likely, Congress is going to have to pass a continuing resolution until later this year based on current funding levels.”
