Speaker Johnson faces conservative backlash over $1.6 trillion spending deal, with just 11 DAYS to go until next government shutdown
Republican hardliners are not happy with a $1.6 trillion deal struck this weekend by House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, setting up a showdown with even more only 11 days to go until the government runs out of funding.
House and Senate negotiators reached a top deal that will keep spending for fiscal year 2024 at $1.6 trillion, the exact amount former Speaker Kevin McCarthy agreed to under the debt limit deal.
The deal includes $886.3 billion for defense spending and $772.7 billion for non-defense programs.
The deal actually spends $1.658 trillion, but a side deal of offsets and budget-saving measures reduces that number by $69 trillion on the non-defense side.
Still, conservatives in the House of Representatives are unimpressed, with some calling the deal a “total failure.”
That could spell trouble for Speaker Mike Johnson, who can afford to lose just two votes from Republican lawmakers to pass a party-line measure.
The clock is ticking before Congress approves a spending deal, with funding for four agencies set to expire on January 19 and funding for another eight set to expire on February 2.
“It's even worse than we thought,” the right-wing House Freedom Caucus posted on X. “Don't believe the spin. Once you break down the typical Washington math, the actual total programmatic spending level is $1.658 trillion – not $1.59 trillion.”
Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Sunday announced a new $1.6 trillion deal to fund the government through 2024
Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer both claimed victory with the deal, which has a top rating exactly the same as McCarthy's before he was impeached over right-wing complaints about his spending plan.
But to allay Republican Party concerns, Johnson wrote in a letter to his conference that the deal would allow Republicans to “fight for key policymakers included in our 2024 budget bills.”
But in a joint statement, Democrats warned Schumer and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries that they “will not support including poison pill policy changes in any of the 12 appropriations bills before Congress.”
Democrats will certainly fight against conservative drivers such as restricting abortion rights or pushing back what Republicans see as a “woke” and weaponized federal bureaucracy.
Republicans have been operating with a two-seat majority for most of the month, with Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., spending most of January recovering from cancer treatment at home.
To pass appropriations for the four agencies expiring in January and the eight expiring in February, the deal will likely need significant Democratic support.
Johnson has ruled out another continuing resolution that would give more time to pass spending bills, although this may be one of the few options to avoid a government shutdown.
Everything within the framework offers a slight increase of 0.2 percent over 2024, or about $1 billion. Defense and security spending will increase by $28 billion, about three percent.
In his letter, Johnson acknowledged that the deal “does not cut spending as much as many of us would like” but said it would allow them to make progress and “reprioritize funding across the top line towards Conservative goals, instead of last year's Schumer-Pelosi omnibus. .'
Schumer and Jeffries said the non-defense spending would “protect important domestic priorities such as veterans benefits, health care and nutritional assistance from draconian cuts sought by right-wing extremists.”
Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, called the deal on X “terrible.” “We keep spending money we don't have,” he added. He said he would “wait to see if we get meaningful policy makers.”
Don't let the swamp fool you,” Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., wrote on X. “The 'bipartisan' spending deal is a sham. Actual revenue is $1.658 trillion. Both parties are addicted to reckless spending and it's time we put an end to it.”
“The DC Uniparty's alleged $1.590 trillion deal is bogus,” added Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz. “$1.658 trillion is the real number when you dig through the smoke and mirrors. It's sad to say, but the spending epidemic in Washington continues and both parties are to blame.”
Johnson told his conference that he had won “hard-won concessions” from Democrats, including “an additional $10 billion in cuts to mandatory IRS funding (for a total of $20 billion), which was a key part of the inflation' of the Democrats. Reduction Act.' In addition, we will cut $6.1 billion from the Biden administration's ongoing COVID-era slush funds, which we accomplished despite intense opposition.”