Four Senate Republicans on Wednesday urged Mitch McConnell to block an omnibus spending package to fund the government for next year and, instead, push for a continuing resolution (C.R.) to give the GOP more negotiating leverage with a House majority in the next Congress.
Congressional leaders of both parties are currently negotiating a permanent appropriations bill to fund the federal government for the 2022-23 Fiscal Year, with the government currently being funded by a previous continuing resolution that runs to Dec. 16. The four senators said in their letter that they will “not accept anything less” than a C.R., heralding a potential filibuster.
“I’m completely against negotiating with Nancy Pelosi,” said Republican Sen. Mike Braun of Indiana to the DCNF on Wednesday, stating that he and colleagues would work to ensure an omnibus does not pass before the year’s end. Braun was joined by Republican Sens. Rick Scott of Florida, Ted Cruz of Texas and Mike Lee of Utah in the letter calling for a C.R. to “avert a government shutdown and take us up to the House being sworn in on Jan. 3.”
BREAKING: @SenateGOP Sens. are pushing to block the omnibus package from passing before the year’s end. They demand another continuing resolution, instead, which @TheDemocrats have opposed. If neither passes, there will be a govt. shutdown on Dec. 16. @DailyCaller story upcoming. pic.twitter.com/WSTnRQJJeS
— Arjun Singh (@arjunswritings) November 30, 2022
“We believe it would be both imprudent, and a reflection of poor leadership, for Republicans to ignore the will of the American people and rubber stamp an omnibus spending bill that funds ten more months of President Biden’s agenda,” the letter read. (RELATED: Pelosi Kills Billions In COVID-19 Spending Due To Democratic Civil War)
Passing yet another 1,000 page trillion-dollar omnibus spending bill that no one reads on the Friday before Christmas with little to no debate is horribly tone deaf & ignores the ongoing inflation crisis. The American people demand fiscal responsibility. https://t.co/BalRRQsXOO
— Citizens United (@Citizens_United) November 29, 2022
The comments from GOP members appear to contrast with those of Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, who has voiced his preference for an omnibus resolution before the year’s end rather than another continuing resolution.
“I think there’s widespread agreement that we’d be better off with an omnibus than a [continuing resolution],” McConnell said at the White House on Tuesday, after negotiating with President Joe Biden on the subject.
In an appearance on Newsmax on Wednesday, Cruz rejected McConnell’s approach.
“Why on earth would we pass Nancy Pelosi’s omnibus bill when, in just a few weeks, we’re going to have a Republican House?” adding that “the Republican leadership in the Senate is trying to emasculate the incoming GOP House majority.”
There is a considerable division within the Senate GOP Conference on the approach, however.
“This is a miserable way and, frankly, an embarrassing way for Congress to do business, and it is potentially dangerous, too,” Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas said to the DCNF, suggesting that national security may be risked with a C.R.
Were Senate Democrats to bring an omnibus bill to the Senate floor, it would require at least 10 Republican votes in order to overcome a filibuster, assuming all Democrats vote in favor. If neither an omnibus bill nor a C.R. pass, there will be a government shutdown on Dec. 17, the first of Biden’s presidency.
McConnell and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s offices did not respond to a request for comment.
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