Staff Reports
Members of Congress are getting ready to go back to work this month. House Republicans are trying to pass a short funding extension to keep the government from shutting down. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a Republican from California, wants to pass a short-term continuing resolution that will give Congress more time to discuss and pass bills. But House Republicans have their own demands, such as cutting spending, securing the border, stopping the Pentagon's "woke" policies, and fixing the fact that the Justice Department and FBI are being used as weapons.
Four things House Republicans are demanding to avoid government shutdown https://t.co/0Vq1I3wGzC
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) September 5, 2023
Spending cuts are a big point of disagreement among House Republicans. Members of the House Freedom Caucus want to cut spending to the level of fiscal 2022. This is a lot less than what President Joe Biden and McCarthy had agreed on before. The suggested cuts would affect many things, like agriculture, infrastructure, science, business, water, energy, healthcare, and commerce. Reps. Chip Roy and Marjorie Taylor Greene, who are both very conservative, have said they will vote against any measure that keeps spending at the same level or gives Ukraine more money.
On the other hand, moderate Republicans are telling their more conservative members to be open to compromise if they want to pass a budget that Democrats in the Senate and the White House will agree to. Rep. Bob Good is one of the Republicans who doesn't worry about a government shutdown and thinks it might be necessary to make spending cuts.
House Republicans also care a lot about keeping the border safe. Members of the House Freedom Caucus want their plan to secure the border, called the Secure the Border Act, to be part of a spending bill. The goal of this bill is to improve border security and limit refuge for people who are afraid of being hurt or persecuted. Rep. Chip Roy has even said that if Congress doesn't vote to tighten security at the southern border, he won't back any spending bill.
Members of the House Freedom Caucus also want to stop what they call "woke" practices in the Pentagon. Even though they haven't said much about these policies, they have in the past backed changes to the National Defense Authorization Act that try to stop the Department of Defense from working on diversity, fairness, and inclusion. Concerns also include the COVID-19 policies of the Pentagon and the funds for abortions and surgeries to change a person's gender.
Lastly, Republicans in the House are very outspoken about wanting to stop what they say is the "weaponization" of the Justice Department and FBI. They have been critical of the investigations into former President Donald Trump, and they say that FBI and IRS leaks show that the Justice Department has become too political. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene has said that she will only vote to fund the government if the House investigates whether President Joe Biden should be impeached and defunds what she sees as a government that is armed.
When Congress meets again, these demands from House Republicans will have a big impact on how the budget talks go and how likely it is that the government will shut down. It's still unclear how much compromise can be made between the different parts of the Republican party and with the Democrats.
