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The clock is ticking.
Speaker Mike Johnson now has less than 14 hours to pass his $1.2 trillion “minibus” spending bill to avert a partial government shutdown, It’s unclear he has the votes, and the vast far-right portion of the House GOP conference is making it clear they oppose the legislation.
This crisis is one of the Speaker’s own making. The midnight deadline is one he negotiated, after being unable to have a budget bill drafted to avert what originally was a March 8 deadline. That March 8 deadline was the result of a stopgap bill he passed.
If Speaker Johnson does not pass this legislation in time for the Senate to also pass it, and President Biden to sign it, all before 12:01 AM Saturday, technically the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security, Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, State, and the legislative branch would shut down, as CNN notes.
Going into Friday it appeared Johnson would have a heavy lift, as Punchbowl News‘ Jake Sherman has been reporting. Johnson would need to rely on about 100 GOP votes to pass his bill, plus the vast majority of House Democrats. 290 votes are needed to pass, Punchbowl reports.
Many far-right House Republicans are growing angrier over what they see as their priorities that are not being supported by the legislation – while others suggest they would not be upset by a shutdown.
Or, as The New Republic reported Thursday evening, “The far-right Freedom Caucus is pissed at Mike Johnson (again).”
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Some, like U.S. Rep. Scott Perry, “one of the leading figures” in the efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, and the previous House Freedom Caucus chair, is calling for Republicans to vote against the bill, despite it providing what they have asked for, because it would give Democrats an edge with independents and anti-Trump Republicans.
Scott Perry says Republicans should vote against this bill because it provides for 23,000 new Border Patrol Agents and 41,500 new detention facility beds, and this will give Democrats something to run on in the upcoming election. pic.twitter.com/YT4WJbyvqT
— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) March 22, 2024
Others, like far right House Freedom Caucus chair Bob Good, and Rep. Chip Roy, made their opposition very public in a “Dear Colleague” letter, using Republicans to oppose the bill, regardless of the shutdown doing so would cause.
Reps. Bob Good and Chip Roy leading a Dear Colleague letter urging lawmakers to vote *against* upcoming appropriations package
(Which, by the way, we still don’t have text for)
Shutdown is midnight on Friday pic.twitter.com/ds92CNhaaQ
— Cami Mondeaux (@cami_mondeaux) March 18, 2024
Opposition is more widespread, according to The Hill.
“The GOP opposition, however, is not just from members of the House Freedom Caucus. Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-Ala.) — the chair of the appropriations subcommittee on Labor and Health and Human Services — announced Thursday night that he will vote against the spending package, raising concerns about funding pertaining to social services for immigrants and groups that assist the LGBTQ community.”
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The rebellion Johnson is facing has become so strong, far-right freshman House Republican Andy Ogles told reporters Friday, “It’s clear that the Democrats own the Speaker’s gavel.”
Punbchbowl’s Sherman reported that quote, while Fox News’ Chad Pergram added context (not direct quotes from Ogles.):
“GOP TN Rep Ogles on minibus spending bill: Some will say that the Republicans are in the majority in the House, but it’s clear that the Democrats own the Speaker’s gavel because this bill, it’s not a Republican piece of legislation. It’s keeping the border open.”
Ogles, according to Pergram, also accuses Johnson and his leadership team of selling Republicans out, and says he’s “pissed.”
“Ogles: Leadership’s panicked because last night they didn’t have the votes. And I don’t know what they’re going to have to sell or what they’re going to have to trade to get there. But if this passes, I know they sold you out. They sold us out.”
“Ogles: And I, for one, am pissed. This bill, if passes, will likely determine who controls the House of Representatives. And this bill will most certainly determine who the next Speaker is.”
See the video above or at this link.
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