A group of 13 current and incoming GOP congressmen demanded that Republican senators oppose the omnibus spending bill released early Tuesday morning, threatening to "thwart" future Republican senators who vote for it.
"Put aside the absurd spending and empowerment of Biden bureaucrats to continue their intentional abuse of power and dereliction of duty. It is the willingness of Senate Republicans to abandon for now the one leverage point we have — the power of the purse — to stop [President Joe] Biden's purposeful refusal to secure and defend our borders that is most offensive," said the letter sent Monday, led by Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas.
The letter said the omnibus bill is an "indefensible assault" on separation of powers, fiscal responsibility, and civic decency. The bill was negotiated between both parties and needs support from 10 Senate Republicans to overcome a filibuster.
"Further, we are obliged to inform you that if any omnibus passes in the remaining days of this Congress, we will oppose and whip opposition to any legislative priority of those senators who vote for this bill — including the Republican leader," the letter said. "We will oppose any rule, any consent request, suspension voice vote, or roll call vote of any such Senate bill, and will otherwise do everything in our power to thwart even the smallest legislative and policy efforts of those senators."
GOP members have long called for the delay of the omnibus spending bill until the new Congress.
Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., chair of the House Freedom Caucus, signed the letter, along with Reps. Dan Bishop R-N.C., Andy Biggs R-Ariz., Matt Rosendale R-Mont., Matt Gaetz R-Fla., Ralph Norman R-S.C., Byron Donalds R-Fla., and Andrew Clyde R-Ga., and Reps.-elect Anna Paulina Luna R-Fla., Andy Ogles R-Tenn., and Eli Crane R-Ariz.
"Kill this terrible bill, or there is no point in pretending we are a united party, and we must prepare for a new political reality," the Republicans wrote.
Both chambers of Congress are expected to vote on the legislation before government funding runs out on Dec. 23.
The 4,155-page bill includes $1.7 trillion in government funding, $44.9 billion is allocated for Ukraine and NATO allies, $2 million in "off-campus" security for lawmakers, Electoral Count Act reform, and a ban of the Chinese-owned social media platform TikTok from government phones.
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