The House Republican spending bill to keep the government running through the remainder of the fiscal year is a good step toward better policy. Any member of the GOP caucus would be a fool to vote against it and would deserve the displeasure of his or her colleagues and voters. It cuts spending overall. It begins to strengthen national defense and the border. It doesn’t include any special “earmark” projects for individual members. It even provides more money to feed the neediest members of our society by increasing spending on the women, infants, and children program.
It is not a solution to our federal government’s spending problem, but it does not make it worse. That Herculean task is one that can await the reconciliation bill coming soon.
Legal authorization to keep the federal government funded runs out at midnight Friday, and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) released a 99-page bill Sunday to get us through to the end of September. It raises military spending by $6 billion, boosts Immigration and Customs Enforcement spending by $485 million, and increases WIC spending by $500 million. This is offset by $21 billion in cuts, leading to a $13 billion decline in spending overall.
“Great things are coming for America,” President Donald Trump said of the bill, “and I am asking you all to give us a few months to get us through to September so we can continue to put the country’s financial house in order.”
All Republicans would prefer yearlong spending plans for each government agency implemented through individual appropriations bills, but that was an impossibility given the short deadline created by former President Joe Biden’s administration.
“Our focus must be on preventing an unnecessary and costly government shutdown on Friday,” Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) said in a statement. “Government shutdowns are inherently a failure to govern effectively and have negative consequences all across government.”
House Democrats intend to vote in lockstep against the bill. “I strongly oppose this continuing resolution, which is a power grab for the White House and further allows unchecked billionaire Elon Musk and President Trump to steal from the American people,” said Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), the House Appropriations Committee ranking member. “By essentially closing the book on negotiations for a full-year funding bill that helps the middle class and protects our national security, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have handed their power to an unelected billionaire.”
DeLauro’s statement is complete and characteristic nonsense. Neither Trump nor Musk is stealing anyone’s money, but DeLauro has nevertheless signaled the dire consequences should any House Republican vote with Democrats against the bill. Not only would Democrats demand more spending than the current bill allows, but they would also demand an end to Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, which is cutting fraud, waste, and abuse under guidance from Musk. A vote with Democrats against Johnson’s spending bill is a vote against DOGE and for Washington to continue gormandizing on taxpayer money.
DOGE NEEDS A SCALPEL, NOT AN AX
Senate Democrats have been understandably quieter in opposing Johnson’s funding bill. If the House passes it, it will go to the Senate, where at least seven Democratic senators must vote for it or vote with Republicans to end a filibuster of it if it is to pass and prevent a government shutdown. Democrats want fervently to deny Trump a legislative win, so they will vote as one for a shutdown. But there are at least half a dozen among them who know a shutdown would harm their constituents and prefer not to have to vote for it with their more intransigent colleagues.
The margin for error in the House is razor-thin. Johnson can lose only two or three votes depending on how many Democrats Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) can get to the floor. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) has already said he will vote no, and his constituents should remember this aid he is giving to Democratic big spenders. But just as Johnson was able to tap Trump’s strength to pass a budget reconciliation bill last month, so it is likely he will prevail again this week with a similar strategy. If so, the shape of an effective governing pattern will be apparent for Republicans in Washington.
This article was originally published at www.washingtonexaminer.com
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