House conservatives huddle with Speaker Johnson on alternate spending deal

Hardline conservative House members enraged by a major spending deal reached by Congressional leaders said Thursday they were working on alternatives and walked out of a meeting with Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana). .

“It's not going to be the deal we have now,” said Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., adding that he believed there was some kind of stop-gap funding measure to avert a government shutdown.

But Mr Johnson is not committed to pursuing new spending levels.

“We are having thoughtful conversations about our funding options and priorities. We had a cross-section of our members today. We intend to continue to have a cross-section of our members and those conversations are I didn't commit to anything while it was going on,” Johnson said.

If the Speaker goes in that direction, withdrawing from the agreement would have to be done by Congress ahead of the January 19 and February 2 funding deadlines and throughout the remainder of the fiscal year, ending September 19. will create significant uncertainty about how to avoid a government shutdown. 30.

Members of the House Freedom Caucus and their ideological allies were in Mr. Johnson's office a day after a group of conservatives forced a procedural vote in a revolt against the spending deal announced by Mr. Johnson and Democratic leaders on Sunday. , and blocked three unrelated bills from proceeding in the House. countermeasure.

“There's going to be a new agreement, and we're in the process of preparing it,” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) said after the meeting.

But Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pennsylvania), a former chairman of the Freedom Caucus, said Mr. Johnson has yet to commit to anything.

“We're still working,” Perry said.

The deal announced over the weekend is roughly in line with the cap set in the debt limit deal signed by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) with President Biden last year, at a record $1.59 trillion. This includes approximately $69 billion. It includes budget adjustments that increase non-defense spending for most of fiscal year 2024. It also includes an additional $10 billion in reductions to mandatory IRS funds and the recovery of $6.1 billion in unused COVID-19 funds.

Johnson said this week that the deal was the best conservatives could get with a razor-thin House majority, Democrats in the Senate and a Democratic White House.

This is a developing story and will be updated.