The fight to avert a government shutdown has once again highlighted the rifts within House Republicans’ slim majority.
House Republican leaders tried to avoid another messy, drawn-out fight over federal funding this year by setting an ambitious timeline to pass all 12 separate budget bills before Congress recesses in August.
That effort has been largely thwarted, with rank-and-file Republicans frustrated that GOP rebels are pushing for politically unpopular votes on measures that likely won’t be included in the final bill after a compromise with the Democratic-controlled Senate. But fiscal conservatives and GOP rebels have accused Republicans of being unwilling to leverage their House majority.
Now, some Republican lawmakers are decrying the latter as “political masturbation,” while the insurrectionists are blasting the “terrible procedures” lawmakers have followed for years.
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House Speaker Mike Johnson’s conference initially aimed to pass all 12 spending bills by August. (Chip Somodevilla)
“A lot of appropriations senators are not excited that some of these amendments are even being voted on, so they’re upset with senators who are voting against the amendments and not voting for the full appropriations bill, so they’re all angry,” one House Republican, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told Fox News Digital.
“It’s not that it’s difficult because I agree with most of them in principle, but they’re unnecessary. I know they’re not going anywhere,” the second House Republican said.
“If I introduce an amendment, that’s fine by me, but if it literally means the amendment doesn’t pass, or the bill doesn’t pass the House because moderates don’t like it, then it’s just political masturbation. So what are we doing?” the second Republican said.
“We can have that impact too. We choose not to because we’re trying to pass these bills. We’re here trying to do real work.”
Republican leaders had been aiming to pass funding bills for the Justice and Commerce departments this week, but the bills have yet to be voted on by the full House after they passed through committee without an amendment to end funding for prosecutions of former President Trump, drawing sharp criticism from the president.
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One spending bill appears to have stalled after an amendment to block special counsel Jack Smith and other Trump investigators failed to pass. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Then Tuesday evening, energy and water budget bills were abruptly removed from the House agenda amid concerns about whether they would pass.
“What we’re tired of is we can’t get a bill passed that’s as conservative as possible to even begin to negotiate,” Republican Study Committee Chairman Kevin Hahn (R-Okla.) told Fox News Digital. “What’s upsetting to a lot of people is that the House is trying to find a bill to pass the Senate and to vote on it, and … the conservatives in our party want a bill that embodies the principles of Republican conservatism as a starting point.”
“These issues should be on the floor, they should be debated and discussed publicly, and amendments should be put forward on the floor before all 435 senators and ultimately before the American people. And that’s why we’re seeing this terrible process,” said Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-Mont.), chairman of the House Freedom Caucus.
Congress will almost certainly have to pass a short-term extension of this year’s funding, a so-called continuing resolution (CR), which fiscal hawks who voted against last year’s funding package are likely to oppose.
Delaying government funding until the new year, or even December, means next steps will depend heavily on the winner of the presidential election.
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Any final agreement will need to be worked out in consultation with Senate Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
“It’s unfortunate that we couldn’t reach an agreement to pass the entire budget before the August recess, but I’m hopeful we can do that in September. I think lawmakers need to be realistic about their budget goals and objectives until after the election,” said Rep. French Hill, a Republican from Arkansas.
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House Appropriations Chairman Tom Cole (R-Okla.) acknowledged to reporters that a short-term bill was needed to avert a partial government shutdown.
“I’ve always said we need to have a CR,” Cole said, “and whoever wins the election gets to make the decision. Do they want to have it done by the end of the year or do they want to put it off until the next Congress? Whoever wins, I would advise it to be done by the end of the year.”
Fox News Digital reached out to House Speaker Mike Johnson’s office for comment but had not heard back at the time of publication.
