Congress STILL in a stalemate: Conservative Republicans remain steadfast in their refusal to pass bills until Kevin McCarthy gives in to their demands – including tighter spending caps
- Three GOP aides to lawmakers involved in the blockade confirmed they had not heard from Speaker Kevin McCarthy over the weekend
- McCarthy sent lawmakers home last week when 11 hardline conservatives delivered a normally run-of-the-mill rule vote to push gas stove legislation forward
- The Rules Committee will prepare five bills for the House floor on Monday, including Rep. Andrew Clyde to repeal a Biden pistol bracket rule
The House is at a standstill and no progress has been made this weekend in the stalemate that has kept legislation from moving since Wednesday.
Three GOP aides to lawmakers involved in the blockade confirmed they had not heard from Speaker Kevin McCarthy over the weekend and were waiting to see what he would offer them in exchange for allowing votes.
McCarthy sent lawmakers home last week when 11 hardline conservatives delivered a normally run-of-the-mill rule vote to push gas stove legislation forward. Many of the 11 said they would continue to block all legislation in the House until they get written commitments from the speaker.
But the leadership clearly believes the squabble will be resolved this week, winning more votes this week with a Rules Committee meeting on Monday night. The full House will vote at 6:30 p.m. on a motion to reconsider the gas stove bill rule.
If successful, the House could move forward with a final vote on the four pieces of legislation that would prevent the Biden administration from restricting gas stoves.
Three GOP aides to lawmakers involved in the blockade confirmed they had not heard from Speaker Kevin McCarthy over the weekend and were waiting to see what he would offer them in exchange for allowing votes to proceed.
McCarthy sent lawmakers home last week when 11 hardline conservatives delivered a normally run-of-the-mill rule vote to push gas stove legislation forward
The Rules Committee plans to prepare five bills for the House floor, including Rep. Andrew Clyde to repeal a Biden pistol-bracket rule.
Clyde claimed the leadership had threatened to prevent the resolution from moving to the House of Representatives if he voted no on the Fiscal Responsibility Act, the negotiated debt limit agreement. Now the pistol bracket resolution is scheduled for a vote in the whole house on Tuesday.
The group’s exact demands were hard to define, but they were seething about the deal negotiated between McCarthy and President Biden earlier this month.
Some say they would welcome a commitment to limit spending to fiscal year 2022 levels during the appropriation process, where the House hopes to pass 12 separate spending bills.
A 2022 cap was part of the House GOP’s Limit Save Grow Act, but the final deal left nondefense spending in 2024 at 2023 levels.
Others, such as Rep. Lauren Boebert, complained that the leadership would not allow the debt ceiling agreement to be tabled under open rules — meaning full members were not allowed to put amendments to a vote. Some members said McCarthy promised them he would bring all legislation under open rule.
Others were angry that more Democrats voted for the final package than Republicans, 171 to 149 — and claimed that McCarthy had promised not to floor legislation that would have more Democratic votes than Republican votes. However, the speaker praised that two-thirds of the Republican conference supported the bill.
McCarthy made a number of backroom promises to Freedom Caucus members who opposed his speakership during the 15-vote process that earned him the gavel. However, those promises were not written down and it is not clear what commitments McCarthy did and did not make.
Some demand a commitment not to spend money on programs whose permits have expired.
“We have 11,118 programs, okay, 11,118 programs that haven’t been approved by the federal government… It means that when they passed a program like the Endangered Species Act of 1973, it was a five-year sunset. It went out, done, over in five years unless it was re-authorized. So in 1978 it was authorized again. It hasn’t been re-authorized since and every year we increase spending on the Endangered Species Act,” said Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo., in a speech over the weekend.
If the House Republicans can resolve the squabbling between the parties, they will move forward not only with bills that prevent the Biden administration from regulating gas stoves and gun mounts, but also with the anti-regulation REINS Act and the Separation of Powers Restoration Act, designed to limit the jurisdiction of federal agencies.