‘Dead on arrival’: McCarthy threatens to tank McConnell’s agenda if Senate GOP votes for omnibus
Ryan King
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House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) is threatening to tank the legislation of Senate Republicans who back the omnibus spending bill being considered this week, setting up a showdown with his counterpart, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY).
Bills from Republican senators, including McConnell himself, will be “dead on arrival” in the House under his speakership, McCarthy warned, throwing his weight behind a letter signed by 13 Republicans in the House vowing to whip against legislation from lawmakers who cast a “yes” vote later this week on the spending bill.
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“Agreed. Except no need to whip — when I’m Speaker, their bills will be dead on arrival in the House if this nearly $2T monstrosity is allowed to move forward over our objections and the will of the American people,” McCarthy tweeted in response to the letter.
https://twitter.com/GOPLeader/status/1605233323814621188
McCarthy’s warning shot comes as House Republicans have pressured the aspiring speaker to take a harder line against McConnell, who has advanced a longer-term spending deal with the Democrats. McCarthy has publicly insisted that the Senate should pass a short-term funding bill instead that allows the bill to be negotiated once Republicans retake the House on Jan. 3.
McCarthy has publicly pressed McConnell to change course on the omnibus, but a conservative flank in the House wants McCarthy to go further and “declare war” on McConnell-backed bills if he votes for the $1.7 trillion spending bill. McCarthy is currently seeking to court a handful of defections within his conference that threaten to derail his speakership bid, given the narrow 222-seat majority House Republicans will have in January.
The group of 13 congressmen is demanding the Senate “refrain from entertaining any spending bill that extends beyond the first few months” of the new year so that the GOP can negotiate a budget when it has control of the lower chamber.
“We are obliged to inform you that if any omnibus passes in the remaining days of this Congress, we will oppose and whip opposition to any legislative priority of those senators who vote for this bill — including the Republican leader,” the Monday letter sent to GOP senators said.
“Senate Republicans have the 41 votes necessary to stop this and should do so now and show the Americans who elected you that they weren’t wrong in doing so,” the letter continued. “This slated omnibus spending bill is an indefensible assault on the American people. It is an assault on the separation of powers. It is an assault on fiscal responsibility. It is an assault on basic civic decency.”
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The letter was signed by Reps. and Reps.-elect Chip Roy (R-TX), Dan Bishop (R-NC), Matt Rosendale (R-MT), Ralph Norman (R-SC), Bob Good (R-VA), Matt Gaetz (R-FL), Scott Perry (R-PA), Andy Biggs (R-AZ), Byron Donalds (R-FL), Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL), Eli Crane (R-AZ), Andrew Clyde (R-GA), and Andy Ogles (R-TN).
Congress has until midnight Friday to fund a spending bill, either the omnibus or a stop-gap measure, that would avert a government shutdown.