Some House conservatives say a government shutdown might be the only way to stop the current spending trajectory.
Lawmakers are facing a Sept. 30 deadline to fund the government for another fiscal year.
"If a shutdown occurs, then so be it if they're not gonna stick to what [Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.] agreed to, which is starting on a path of financial security, which we don't have," Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., told The Hill.
"Eighty-five percent or so of the government continues to operate, and most Americans won't even miss it," Rep. Bob Good, R-Va., said, The Hill reported. "And if that's the leverage that we need to utilize to force the Democrats to accept spending cuts and an end to the harmful policies that are, again, crushing the American people — I mean, then we need to do that."
With Republicans holding a slim 222-212 majority in the House, McCarthy needs support from close to his entire conference or help from Democrats to pass a bill.
The speaker said he would like to pass a "short-term" continuing resolution (CR) to fund the government beyond Sept. 30 as both chambers work on appropriations agreements.
"I don't think anybody wants a government shutdown," McCarthy told reporters in Syracuse, N.Y., last week.
He also is warning House conservatives that a government shutdown could halt investigations into the Biden administration.
"So I would actually like to have a short-term CR, only to make our arguments stronger," McCarthy said on Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures." "If we shut down, all the government shuts it down, investigation and everything else. It hurts the American public."
Some conservatives, though, are not buying McCarthy's suggestion.
"We are not going to be distracted by a shiny object saying, 'if you don't get this continuing resolution passed, we won't be able to pursue the impeachment inquiry,'" Rep. Matt Rosendale, R-Mont., said Monday on Fox Business. "That's nonsense."
Last week, the conservative House Freedom Caucus declared on social media site X that it will oppose any stopgap government funding bill that doesn't include border policy measures and fails to address Department of Justice and "woke" military policies.
"We've made it clear, you've seen the letter the Freedom Caucus sent out, $1.4 trillion limit, no rescissions to plus-up the appropriations," Norman said, according to The Hill.
"And we're opposing a CR. And if a byproduct is the shutdown of the government, then so be it."
Rep. Morgan Griffith, R-Va., who, like Norman and Good, is a Freedom Caucus member, said just talk of a shutdown could help.
"I don't think it's good for the country to have a shutdown, but sometimes it's good for some members to make rhetoric about a possible shutdown because then maybe we can get everybody to come to some kind of agreement that makes sense for the American people," Griffith said earlier this month, The Hill reported.
Even if the House passed a bill to satisfy the Freedom Caucus, it's unlikely the Democrat-controlled Senate would do likewise.
"I believe that we have an obligation to fund the government, and I will reach a compromise with whoever I have to to make sure that the government continues running," Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., told reporters Tuesday.
"If there's a shutdown, then quite frankly, you know — I will live through it; I've lived through a number of them, but I don't think it's constructive and neither does the speaker."
Charlie McCarthy ✉
Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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