Congressional leaders’ stopgap spending measure is about to face a common impediment to their bipartisan plans: a trio of conservatives on the Rules Committee.
The panel is aiming to tee up a three-month funding patch Monday afternoon, a step typically needed to send legislation to the full House for a passage vote. But conservatives on the panel — Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), Chip Roy (R-Texas) and Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) — have been unwilling to rubber-stamp leadership’s wishes several times throughout the current Congress and have often spoken forcefully against so-called continuing resolutions.
Neither Massie nor Norman would tip their hands on how they’d handle the rule vote as they walked toward the committee room on Monday afternoon. And the panel’s chair, Rep. Michael Burgess (R-Texas), wasn’t sure how the spending patch would be considered.
“You might make that assumption, and it might be correct, but yes the world is in flux even as we speak,” Burgess said when asked if the bill would come up under a rule.
A shutdown deadline looms on Sept. 30, so if conservatives and all Democrats on the Rules panel all vote against the package, House leadership will have to greenlight a House vote outside of normal rules. Speaker Mike Johnson has indicated he is not going to allow a shutdown so close to the election.
Lawmakers are expecting a mid-week vote on the short-term legislation that would fund the federal government through Dec. 20, postponing the broader funding fight until after the November election. The bipartisan plan is widely expected to clear both the House and Senate, though there could be turbulence in each chamber.
“When [congressional leaders] cut that deal, it isn’t doing anything good for the American people because you keep spending like crazy,” Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), a vocal conservative, said Monday on “The War Room” on Real America’s Voice. “That’s where people like me say, ‘When are you going to tackle it?’”
House Republicans unveiled the largely “clean” 49-page funding patch on Sunday afternoon, which they touted as a bipartisan compromise. The measure includes an additional $231 million to the Secret Service for carrying out protective operations, following two recent assassination attempts against former President Donald Trump.
The conservatives last week allowed a six-month continuing resolution through the panel, though that one had an attached provision requiring proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections. Roy and Norman ultimately backed it on the floor, while Massie voted present.
Fourteen House Republicans ultimately opposed that Johnson-led approach on the floor.
A government shutdown next week is unlikely, even if conservatives defeat procedural votes in committee or on the floor. House Republican leaders could pivot to a procedure that would fast-track debate; that sets up a two-thirds bar for passage, a threshold GOP leaders should be able to meet with Democratic votes.
Jordain Carney and Caitlin Emma contributed to this report.
