House Democrats urge McCarthy to drop conservative demands and pass bipartisan spending deal
Cami Mondeaux
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Nearly 100 House Democrats signed onto a letter pressing Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) to reject demands from hard-line conservatives included in the continuing resolution proposal, urging the GOP leader to advance a bipartisan spending deal that mirrors legislation being moved through the Senate.
In a letter sent to McCarthy on Sunday, every member of the New Democrat Coalition urged the speaker to abandon efforts to appease the demands of those on his right flank and instead work with Democrats to pass a bipartisan spending deal that mirrors the agreement he negotiated with President Joe Biden earlier this year. The letter was sent on the same day House Republicans announced a deal on a continuing resolution, which has already attracted widespread criticism from members of their own party, putting its passage at risk.
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“We urge you to reject the hyperpartisan approach and focus on passing government funding legislation that can actually become law,” the lawmakers wrote. “In the absence of viable appropriations bills from the House Appropriations Committee, we urge you to, at the very least, bring bills similar to the bipartisan bills that have already passed out of the Senate Appropriations Committee for a vote on the House Floor.”
With Republicans having a slim majority in the lower chamber, McCarthy can only afford to lose four GOP votes if all Democrats oppose the legislation. So far, at least 11 House Republicans have come out in opposition of the bill, putting the chamber’s leadership in a bind as it hopes for a vote sometime this week.
Even if the deal did manage to make it past the House, it would face certain doom in the Democratic-led Senate — doing little to avoid a government shutdown ahead of the Sept. 30 deadline.
As part of a bipartisan deal, Democrats are pressing McCarthy to pass a stopgap measure that keeps the government funded while also fulfilling requests from President Joe Biden to fund natural disaster relief, secure the southern border, and continue military assistance to Ukraine. Lawmakers are also urging McCarthy to work on passing extensions for critical federal programs such as farm bill programs, the Federal Aviation Administration, and the National Flood Insurance Program.
“Speaker McCarthy once again faces a choice between Team Extreme and Team Responsible. We implore him to reject the outrageous demands of the far-right fringe determined to shut down the government,” the New Democrat Coalition said in a statement. “It’s time for Speaker McCarthy to keep the promise he made to the American people in May by joining New Dems in our continued efforts to pass bipartisan legislation that funds the government and strengthens our nation.”
It’s not yet clear whether McCarthy would be willing to cut a deal with Democrats, as doing so would pose a serious risk to his speakership. According to House rules that were implemented in January, it only takes one member to call for a motion to vacate McCarthy from his top leadership position — a threat some rank-and-file Republicans have already made in recent weeks.
When asked if he thinks it’s time to start negotiating across the aisle, McCarthy told reporters on Monday there’s still plenty of time.
“This isn’t the 30th, we have a long ways to go,” McCarthy said, referring to the Sept. 30 deadline.
Congress has less than two weeks to pass some sort of spending legislation before the government runs out of money, resulting in a shutdown. House Republicans have negotiated a 31-day continuing resolution they hope to bring up for a vote this week, which includes the House’s border security bill, minus E-Verify, other border security provisions, and spending cuts.
The bill would keep defense and veterans affairs spending at fiscal 2023 levels and slash other domestic agency funding by 8%. The bill does not include any funding for Ukraine.
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This would bring spending to $1.59 trillion — the spending level set in the bipartisan debt ceiling deal signed into law in June.
Hard-line conservatives have called for spending to be set at $1.471 trillion. Many have also said they needed to see H.R. 2 or other strict border security measures in any continuing resolution for it to receive their support. But even with the border security provisions in this measure, they are still against it.