Speaker Johnson faces conservative unrest over funding deal

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) faces the difficult task of securing a deal to fund the government to the end amid fierce opposition from conservatives in Congress.

The speaker, who was elected only a few months ago after his predecessor was defeated for collaborating with Democrats to fund the government, is now in the House minority party's favor of approving the deal, citing outrage from the right. likely to rely on.

Mr. Johnson faces a tight deadline as the Republican majority in the House of Representatives is extremely thin. If the funding bill isn't signed by Jan. 19, there will be a partial government shutdown, while the Pentagon and other agencies will shut down after Feb. 2 without a deal.

Johnson's path to victory is expected to be a political minefield, even if many Republicans hope to avoid the chaos that engulfed the House in October's insurrection against former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) be done.

The total spending deal announced by Congressional leaders over the weekend includes a base maximum of $1.59 trillion, plus about $69 billion in budget adjustments to increase non-defense spending for most of fiscal year 2024. .

The House Freedom Caucus, a group of about 30 MPs, said in a post on X (formerly Twitter) that the deal was a “total failure”.

In his “Dear Colleagues” letter on Sunday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson acknowledged that this level of spending “will not satisfy everyone and will not reduce spending as much as many of us would like”. Ta. But he touted some victories, including accelerating the collection of IRS funds and cutting the “COVID-era slush fund” by $6.1 billion, calling it “the most Republicans have achieved in more than a decade.” “A favorable budget agreement.”

Adding insult to injury, several hard-line Republicans have called for a government shutdown if the Biden administration doesn't agree to changes to border policy, but this argument has largely focused on separate additions combined with Ukraine aid. The focus is on spending packages.

Procedural voting hurdles

One big question is whether Johnson will take advantage of a process that denies conservatives the chance to defeat spending bills in a procedural vote.

With House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York and President Biden giving their stamp of approval for the deal, Johnson has more than enough Democratic support to make up for it. is likely to obtain. For the defection of House Republicans on final passage of the spending bill.

But in the House, where the normal process is to first pass rules setting the terms for consideration of a bill, the minority party almost always opposes it across the board in a test of party strength.

While it was once unheard of for the majority party to sink a rules vote, hardline conservatives have done so repeatedly over the past year to protest other spending bills.

As of Monday, it was unclear whether Republican lawmakers would move to overturn the procedural vote. Rep. Ralph Norman (RS.C.), who is unhappy with Johnson's deal, told The Hill in a text message that he would review the details of each bill before deciding whether to oppose the rules. Ta.

Party leaders used a process called “suspension of rules,” typically used for uncontroversial bills, to avoid procedural votes and pass bills with support from two-thirds of the chamber. can be passed.

Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.), one of eight Republicans who voted to expel former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) in October, is among some conservatives. told The Hill in a text message that he would “probably” tank Republicans. If the spending bill were to be considered in regular order, Johnson noted that he would “probably” have to introduce pending legislation.

Johnson previously used the suspension process to pass a two-step interim continuing resolution with deadlines of January 19 and February 2, and to pass the final version of this year's National Defense Authorization Act. used.

However, these moves were harshly criticized by hardline conservatives. Conservatives are bound to be unhappy with the huge spending bill that goes through the suspension process.

Shutdown deadline pressure

Now that a maximum amount has been set, the race is on to create legislation that meets that level and pass it by the funding deadline.

Prime Minister Johnson has previously said he does not intend to pass any more short-term continuing resolutions, leaving open the possibility of a government shutdown if Congress fails to meet the deadline.

January 19th is the deadline for funding for government programs and agencies covered by four regular spending bills: Agriculture, Rural Development, and the Food and Drug Administration. Energy and water development. Military Construction and Veterans Affairs. transportation, housing, and urban development. All other funding for the eight bills expires on February 2nd.

The House of Commons is currently scheduled to adjourn in the week of January 22nd, putting further pressure on the deadline, but there is a possibility that Prime Minister Boris Johnson will call on MPs to adjourn.

The speaker has touted the two-tier stopgap bill as a way to buck Washington's tendency to pass large omnibus spending bills, but in a letter to colleagues he said there are 12 separate bills. It does not specifically state that there will be a vote.

conservative policy priorities

In a letter to colleagues, Johnson said the bill “changes funding priorities within the top line toward conservative goals, rather than last year's Schumer vs. Pelosi omnibus” and will bring the bill to the conference. “It gives us an opportunity to fight for important policy items included in the House,” he wrote. [fiscal 2024] invoice. ”

But it's unclear what policies House Republicans will be able to pass.

The Republican spending bill's policy priorities include targeting access to abortion, slashing diversity efforts and cutting Cabinet salaries, but many have unanimous Republican support. I wasn't getting it.

In a post to suggested that Republicans had lost some of their influence in securing favorable policies by agreeing to the agreement. Highest spending level.

good I lamented the transaction. “There are no significant policy victories.”Roy he said he would “We'll wait to see if we can get meaningful policy riders,” he said, but warned that the annual defense bill, which included a short-term extension of foreign surveillance programs opposed by conservatives, “is not a good preview.”

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) also said the budget deal “does nothing to secure the border or deter invasion, and targets Biden's political opponents and innocent Americans. He said he opposes the budget deal because it “doesn't stop a weaponized government.”

Schumer cautioned against conservatives insisting on some of these policy riders.

“If the far right chooses to kill this deal with poison pills, they will be held accountable if we start moving towards a government shutdown,” he said on the Senate floor Monday. Ta.

border policy demands

A further curveball is the demand from some conservatives to keep the streetlights on in Washington conditional on a border deal.

A minority of hardliners have said they will not fund the government unless Congress passes substantive border reform, and that vow further deepened after Johnson led a group of about 60 Republicans to the border. It got stronger.

“A precondition to any budget deal must address the primary threat to national security: border closures!! Without this, there is no deal!” Norman, a member of the Freedom Caucus, said in a text message Monday. He told The Hill.

The ultimatum comes as a bipartisan group in the Senate nears a long-awaited agreement on border security after months of talks. The talks began after Republicans said they would not approve new aid to Ukraine until Congress addressed immigration policy at the southern border.

Lawmakers had hoped for a deal this week, but top Republican negotiator Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) said Monday it was unlikely the document would be released this week. .

In any case, the Senate's bipartisan framework is unlikely to reassure hardline House Republicans, who are adamant about enacting HR2, the expansive border bill that cleared the bill with only Republican support in May. right.

And Johnson, in a recent interview, said he was not keen on bringing the Senate deal to the House floor for a vote.

“That's a hypothetical question. Again, they didn't send me any of these terms,” ​​he said in an interview on CBS' “Face the Nation” that aired Sunday.