Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) called on his colleagues to âfinish the job of funding the governmentâ ahead of the midnight deadline.
In a speech on the Senate floor, Mr. Schumer called for avoiding âunnecessary delaysâ as 70 percent of the government will shut down on Saturday if it is not funded.
âDemocrats and Republicans have about 13 hours to work together to make sure the government stays open,â he said. âThat’s not going to be easy.â
Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tn.) criticized the minibus funding package in a March 22 post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
âTake note of the [Republicans] who vote for this spending bill and get them out of Washington,â he said.
âIf we don’t take a stand, we will lose this country. You are seeing the beginning of the end for the United States of America.â
After declaring her plans to vote against the funding package on social media the day prior, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) rose to condemn the bill on the House floor on March 22, calling it an âatrocious attack on the American people.â
âI rise in extreme opposition to the second part of the omnibus bill. No Republican in the House of Representatives [in] good conscience can vote for this bill,â she said.
âIt is a complete departure of [sic] all of our principles.â
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) told Steve Bannon on March 21 about the possibility of initiating a motion to vacate against House Speaker Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.).
âI think you can stay tuned,â she told Mr. Bannon.
âWill you lead the charge?â Mr. Bannon asked.
Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) touted the $1.2 trillion government funding bill as âa strongâ bill for border security and the Department of Homeland Security.
He cited the increased number of border security agents and detention beds for illegal aliens under the bill.
DHS would get $61.8 billion, a $1.1 billion increase over the 2023 fiscal year. Customs and Border Protection would receive $400 million toward combating the influx of fentanyl, a major problem as the deadly drug crosses the southern border via cartels and other sources.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) was another vocal supporter of the minibus funding package on March 22 while noting the negotiations between both parties âhasnât been a perfect process.â
âBut we said ânever let the perfect be the enemy of the goodâ when it comes to solving problems on behalf of hardworking American taxpayers.
âAnd this is a good result for the American people in terms of standing up for their health, their safety, their education, their national security, protection and of course, above all else, their economic well being a bipartisan process, leading to a bipartisan result,â Mr. Jeffries said.
Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Ct.) stood to support the government funding package on the House Floor on March 22, championing it for being led by women.
âI am proud to make history with such experienced appropriators. 2024 marks the first time negotiations on government funding have been led on all four corners by women,â she said.
âThis bill sides with the hard working majority of Americans. It helps to lower the cost of living, it protects women’s rights and access to reproductive health care that reinforces America’s global leadership, and it helps our communities be safe and secure,â Ms. DeLauro added.
Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), a member of the House Freedom Caucus, kicked off the debate on the House floor with a warning to his fellow Republicans.
âThis bill is over a thousand pages long. It contains hundreds of pages of report language, 1,400 earmarks, and weâve had about 24 hours to review it. That is not the way to do business. And the American people and American families are the ones left holding the bag,â Mr. Roy said.
âThis is business as usual in the swamp. And hereâs the deal to my Republican colleagues: You will own every single bit of this. If you vote for this bill, you own it.â
House Freedom Caucus Chairman Bob Good (R-Va.) appeared to dismiss a question from a reporter about the possibility of stripping the gavel from House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), who succeeded former Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) after Mr. McCarthy was ousted last October.
âââIt is the speaker’s decision to bring this to the floor for a vote,â he said.
âYou guys ask us every day about the status of the speaker. But I don’t think anybody here talked cavalierly or flippantly about the speaker a year ago,â continued Mr. Good. âWe focused on policy. We focused on actions. We focused on performance or lack thereof. And we’re doing the same thing today.â
Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) called on House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to shut down the House over the $1.2 trillion government spending bill.
He explained that Mr. Johnson could do so by removing a ceremonial ornamented staff called a mace. The mace is in place next to the speakerâs chair when the House is in session and it is a 184-year-old custom.
âTake the mace down, cut the lights off, and say we will not come back until you stop the invasion at the border,â said Mr. Norman, calling for the Democrat-controlled Senate to pass a tough border security bill that the House passed last year.
Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) slammed Congressional GOP leadership over the $1.2 trillion government spending bill, calling it a âswamp glossaryââa reference to Washingtonâs nickname, âthe Swamp.â
âFrankly, our Republican leadership or basically walking swamp glossary,â the Freedom Caucus member said.
He cited what he said are excuses from his partyâs leadership such as that the GOP majority in the House is thin.
House Freedom Caucus Chairman Bob Good (R-Va.) railed against the $1.2 trillion government spending bill, saying it is worse than the spending when the Democrats controlled Congress under the leadership of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).
âIt does seem this bill again maintains the Pelosi-Schumer policies and spending levels exactly,â said Mr. Good. âIt actually increases spending levels by about $60 billion that were in place from the omnibus that we all voted against a year and a half ago, but it has some new things that we want to point out here,â he said at a press conference.
Mr. Good lamented the earmarks and $200 million for the new FBI headquarters in the bill.
Re. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) said on March 21 that she would vote no for the newest government funding package, voicing her frustration with the House GOP majority.
âOur Republican majority is a complete failure,â said Mr. Greene in a post on X.
âWe have the power of the purse, which means we can control what the entire government does.â
The nonpartisan Job Creators Network (JCN) released a statement calling on Congress to pass the appropriations package.
âJob Creators Network continues to believe that the federal government is too big and unelected bureaucrats have too much power,â said Alfredo Ortiz, JCN president and CEO.
âThat said, we commend the House for provisions in the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2024 that, among other things, reduces funding for the IRS and the Department of Labor, claws back $2.6 billion in unused COVID funds, and ensures border patrol officials have the resources they need to protect the country. The Job Creators Network encourages all members of Congress to pass this bill.â
The House is set to vote on a $1.2 trillion spending package at 11 a.m. ET on March 22 to fund 70 percent of the government and avert a partial shutdown.
While the House will likely pass it overwhelmingly, using an expedited process that requires a two-thirds majority for passageâin addition to Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) waiving the House GOP rule that requires members to have 72 hours to review legislation before it is voted onâhow fast it will pass the Senate is uncertain.
The bill could pass the Senate quickly if no senator objects to expediting the process.
In the wee hours of March 21, the text of the second appropriations billâtotaling $1.2 trillionâto fund most of the U.S. government was unveiled.
The second tranche of spending legislation covers 70 percent of the federal government. This includes the Defense, Treasury, Homeland Security, Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS), Education, and State departments.
If Congress does not pass the bill by March 23, a partial government shutdown will occur.
Conservative Republicans didnât hold back on March 21 over the $1.2 trillion spending bill that would fund 70 percent of the governmentâas the clock ticked toward a partial government shutdown on March 23.
The bill, the text of which was unveiled in the early morning hours of March 21âless than 48 hours before a shutdown was set to beginâimmediately reignited tensions in the Republican conference and concerns about House Speaker Mike Johnsonâs (R-La.) leadership of the lower chamber.
âThey did make some cuts, but itâs not what I would like,â Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) told reporters in a gentle voice.
Original News Source Link – Epoch Times
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