With just days left to avoid a government shutdown, Congress has yet to finalize a funding bill, raising concerns among several House Republicans.
Lawmakers are starting to feel the pressure ahead of Friday's looming funding deadline. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) had planned to introduce a funding bill on Sunday, but was unable to do so at the last minute as leadership continues to negotiate the bill's content.
“If Congress refuses to hold itself accountable, the American people will rightly not be able to trust us to hold the bad actors of the bureaucratic state accountable.”
As a result, several Republican lawmakers have expressed skepticism ahead of the spending battle, citing a lack of transparency and citing fiscal concerns.
“We're talking about funding the government, but no one has even looked at the text of the bill,” Republican Representative Tim Burchett of Tennessee told Blaze News. “That's the way this place works… in the dark and under cover. Unless someone proves otherwise, I'm a no.”
“The only way to break out of this quagmire is to reject legislation that would get us through the crisis with the lie of an unlimited checkbook,” Texas Republican Rep. Chip Roy told Blaze News. “And yet we are here.”
The pushback from House conservatives echoes their arguments during the previous spending battle in September.
“This week, Congress will vote on a bill to fund the entire federal government,” said Arizona Republican Rep. Eli Crane. said In a post to X on Monday: “The text of the bill has not yet been released to the public. Does this process give you more or less confidence in Congress?”
With an increasingly slim Republican majority in the House of Representatives, Mr. Johnson will need bipartisan support to pass a continuing resolution that necessarily includes policy compromises. Mr Johnson will likely have to negotiate with all ideological factions in the House of Commons, but hardline Conservatives are expected to hold out.
“The House of Representatives has repeatedly ignored the law requiring it to pass 12 separate spending bills by the end of June,” Arizona Republican Congressman Andy Biggs told Blaze News. “Instead, my colleagues are taking the easy route of repeatedly extending inflated spending levels and terrible policies while ignoring the demands of their constituents.”
“If Congress refuses to hold itself accountable, the American people rightly cannot trust us to hold the bad actors of the bureaucratic state accountable.”
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