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house freedom caucus
Progressives Say 'Absolutely No Reason' Dems Should Help GOP Eviscerate Key Programs
"Democrats should walk away from any deal that makes further cuts to the spending levels agreed upon in the bipartisan compromise," said one advocate.
Jan 04, 2024
As a U.S. government shutdown yet again looms, a progressive coalition on Thursday warned Democrats against allowing federal spending cuts beyond what was agreed to in the debt ceiling deal that President Joe Biden negotiated with Republicans last year.
"Congressional Republicans aren't hiding the ball. They want to eviscerate funding for programs working families rely on and they are willing to shut down the government to do it," said Groundwork Collaborative executive director Lindsay Owens, a member of the ProsperUS coalition, in a statement.
"There is absolutely no reason for Democrats to participate in their efforts to starve programs that provide food, housing, and childcare for families," Owens argued. "Democrats should walk away from any deal that makes further cuts to the spending levels agreed upon in the bipartisan compromise."
To avoid an economically catastrophic U.S. default last spring, Biden and then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) struck a deal on the so-called Fiscal Responsibility Act, which included two years of spending caps for nondefense discretionary spending.
Since then, government shutdowns were narrowly avoided with temporary measures in September and November. Between those moves, House Republicans also ousted McCarthy—who then resigned from Congress at the end of last year—and eventually replaced him with Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.), whose rise to power was widely seen as a signal of the far-right's hold on the party.
Neither chamber of Congress will be in session until next week, but Johnson and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) have told reporters that budget talks are underway to potentially reach an agreement before the two government shutdown deadlines—which are midnight on January 19 and February 2, with various agencies set to be affected by one date or the other.
A shutdown could be prevented with an omnibus bill or a continuing resolution. Although Johnson claimed in November that "I'm done with short-term CRs," Forbesnoted Tuesday that "full budgets appear unlikely given the tight timeline and limited progress so far. The House and Senate have both passed some appropriations bills, but they are a long way from being reconciled. Specifically, the House has passed seven appropriation bills and the Senate three."
While leading a Republican trip to the border city of Eagle Pass, Texas on Wednesday to demand hardline immigration policies, Johnson said that "we have been working in earnest and in good faith with the Senate and the White House virtually every day through the holidays trying to come to an agreement. Negotiations are still ongoing."
"And let me tell you what our top two priorities are right now," he said. "In summary, we want to get the border closed and secured first, and we want to make sure that we reduce nondefense discretionary spending."
Johnson supports the GOP's Secure the Border Act (H.R. 2)—which Republicans have tied to the budget battle and Biden's supplemental funding request for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan—but the speaker "stopped short of embracing his right flank's demand to shut down the government without action," Politicopointed out Wednesday.
However, far-right Republicans, including House Freedom Caucus members, have a clear message. Fox News' Bill Melugin reported from Eagle Pass that GOP Reps. Andy Biggs (Ariz.), Eli Crane (Ariz.), Matt Gaetz (Fla.), Bob Good (Va.), and Matt Rosendale (Mont.) said: "Shut the border down, or we'll shut the government down. We control the money."
The House Freedom Caucus is also a barrier to getting an agreement more broadly. According toNBC News:
A source familiar with the talks, who wasn't authorized to share details, said that they're "moving along" and that it "appears we'll reach agreement soon" on a dollar amount that includes less spending in fiscal year 2024 than was in the budget deal, "without any cuts to defense" spending.
Republicans are targeting cuts to a side pot of $69 billion in domestic nonmilitary funding that was part of the budget deal, alongside a spending "cap" of $1.59 trillion.
"One obstacle to a deal is the House Freedom Caucus, a group of ultraconservative lawmakers who want to wipe away the entire side agreement," the outlet explained. "A Freedom Caucus spokesperson said they still oppose any deal that would add to the $1.59 trillion level and pointed to the group's statement Friday blasting the use of 'disingenuous gimmicks' to secure separate funding for programs."
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Progressives Say GOP Shutdown Chaos Is About Imposing 'Extreme, Cruel' Agenda
"It's the same thing they did with the debt ceiling: Weaponize the tools of the House majority to force a false choice. Their agenda or a national crisis," said the Congressional Progressive Caucus.
Sep 29, 2023
With a "completely avoidable" U.S. government shutdown less than 48 hours away, the Congressional Progressive Caucus and individual House Democrats on Friday took aim at Republicans for holding "the American people hostage to force their agenda through" at the expense of working families and others.
"You wouldn't know it by watching them fail to govern, but House Republicans have a policy agenda. It's extreme, cruel, and unworkable, and they are committed to making that agenda law," the Progressive Caucus said on social media. "Here's the problem: They can't pass it. They can't even get all their members to vote for it."
That's because the Republican continuing resolution (CR) that was voted down 232-198 on Friday—which included big cuts to social safety net spending and anti-migrant measures—was not severe enough for members of the far-right House Freedom Caucus' liking.
"So House Republicans' only option is to hold the government and the American people hostage to force their agenda through," the Progressive Caucus continued. "It's the same thing they did with the debt ceiling: Weaponize the tools of the House majority to force a false choice. Their agenda or a national crisis."
According to the Progressive Caucus, that agenda includes:
- An 80% cut in public education funding to take 40,000 teachers from poor students and students with disabilities and kick 100,000 kids out of preschool;
- A 70% cut in funding for 5 million low-income families to heat their homes;
- Slashing food assistance for millions of low-income women and children;
- Cutting support services for nearly 1 million people facing a suicidal or mental health crisis and thousands with opioid use disorder;
- Eliminating one-third of all housing choice voucher funding for poor families, increasing the risk of eviction and homelessness;
- Increasing the wait time for Social Security disability benefits applicants by two months;
- Making fruits and vegetables more expensive for 5 million pregnant mothers; and
- Cutting nearly 50% of federal wildfire prevention funds.
"House Republicans are pushing all these cruel cuts AND a death panel for Social Security and Medicare. If they don't get it, they'll shut down the government," the Progressive Caucus added. "This is why progressives are fighting so hard. We will not sacrifice working people to continual Republican threats."
Progressive Caucus Deputy Chair Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) said Friday that "this shutdown is not only tragic, but completely avoidable."
"An overwhelming bipartisan majority of lawmakers in the House support a clean bill to keep the government open. The Senate is prepared to pass it, the president is prepared to sign it," she continued. "But the most extreme faction of MAGA wing of the party—egged on by [former President] Donald Trump, who craves a distraction from his indictments and criminal charges—are demanding an endless list of cuts that have brought us to a government shutdown."
"We have to remember how we got here. The government has shutdown four times in the past 30 years. Each time it happened, an extreme faction of Republicans was in charge of the House of Representatives," Omar added. "We need a clean bill to keep the government open, before this causes real harm. It's time for Republicans to stop playing with people's lives and do their jobs."
Another Progressive Caucus member, Rep. Delia Ramirez, said Friday that "today's hurtful, extremist Republican CR demonstrates the Republicans' hypocrisy, ineffective leadership, and disregard for working families."
The congresswoman continued:
Day after day, we have been here, voting until the wee hours of the morning, and we have made absolutely no progress. After each vote, conservative extremists change their demands, and [House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif)] keeps giving them more and more without making progress.
"To what end? A 30% cut to government services? So that 10,901 women and children in the IL-03 can go hungry? So that 28,187 active and reserved service members will go without payment in Illinois? So that 5,000 residents in IL-03 may lose access to federal help and vouchers?
"These are not the goals of people who care about working families," Ramirez asserted. "On the contrary, it's a vicious attack on working families"
"If the Republicans were serious about averting a shutdown, they would bring a clean CR to the floor," she argued. "That's not what they want. They want to send our economy into crisis, protect Donald Trump, and harm our communities."
"Enough is enough!" Ramirez added. " I call on six courageous, principled Republicans to do their job, serve our constituents, and protect the economy."
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House Freedom Caucus Threatens 'Reckless' Government Shutdown Unless Far-Right Demands Met
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer warned that "if the House decides to go in a partisan direction it will lead to a Republican-caused shutdown."
Aug 21, 2023
With Congress on August recess, the far-right House Freedom Caucus on Monday issued expected but unlikely-to-be-met demands for a stopgap funding bill that would avert an October government shutdown.
Members of the Senate and House of Representatives are set to return to Capitol Hill on the first and second Tuesday of September, respectively—giving them little time to pass full-year appropriations legislation before funding runs out at the end of next month.
Considering the time crunch, both Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) have recently signaled support for a continuing resolution (CR) that would give lawmakers a few more months to pass a larger package.
So far, McCarthy's fractured conference has only passed one of 12 appropriations bills for fiscal year (FY) 2024. Among the GOP's "five families" is the House Freedom Caucus (HFC), which does not publicly list its members but is made up of a few dozen legislators, including Chair Scott Perry (R-Pa.) and Vice Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio).
In terms of the appropriations legislation for the next fiscal year, the HFC said in a statement Monday that "we remain committed to restoring the true FY 2022 topline spending level of $1.471 trillion without the use of gimmicks or reallocated rescissions to return the bureaucracy to its pre-Covid size while allowing for adequate defense funding."
"In the eventuality that Congress must consider a short-term extension of government funding through a continuing resolution, we refuse to support any such measure that continues Democrats' bloated Covid-era spending and simultaneously fails to force the Biden administration to follow the law and fulfill its most basic responsibilities," the caucus continued. "Any support for a 'clean' continuing resolution would be an affirmation of the current FY 2023 spending level grossly increased by the lame-duck December 2022 omnibus spending bill that we all vehemently opposed just seven months ago."
The HFC declared that its members will refuse to support any CR that does not include the House-passed Secure the Border Act, "address the unprecedented weaponization" of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and "end the Left's cancerous woke policies in the Pentagon undermining our military's core warfighting mission."
The Pentagon language likely relates to U.S. military policies on abortion and gender-affirming care as well as diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility while the DOJ comment is widely seen as a reference to investigations of former President Donald Trump, who has been indicted in four cases this year—including in two probes led by Special Counsel Jack Smith, who was appointed by U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland after the Republican announced his 2024 presidential campaign.
"We will oppose any attempt by Washington to revert to its old playbook of using a series of short-term funding extensions designed to push Congress up against a December deadline to force the passage of yet another monstrous, budget-busting, pork-filled, lobbyist handout omnibus spending bill at year's end and we will use every procedural tool necessary to prevent that outcome," the HFC added Monday. "Lastly, we will oppose any blank check for Ukraine in any supplemental appropriations bill."
Democrats in Congress quickly warned that the faction of Republicans was up to no good, with Schumer saying in a statement Monday that "if the House decides to go in a partisan direction it will lead to a Republican-caused shutdown."
Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton (D-Va.) said that "extreme House Republicans are now threatening to send us into a reckless government shutdown if they don't get their way. A shutdown would be a disaster for Virginians—from missed paychecks to lapses in essential government services that families rely on."
Referencing Trump's "Make America Great Again" slogan, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) wrote on social media that "House Republicans are determined to shut down the government and crash our economy. We will fight these MAGA extremists every step of the way. For. The. People."
The New Republic's Tori Otten also suggested that "tanking the economy" could be the goal, noting that the HFC made similar demands earlier this year before McCarthy struck a debt ceiling deal with Democratic President Joe Biden, who is seeking reelection:
The government shutdown in 2018 cost the United States $11 billion, including $3 billion in economic activity that will never be recovered, the Congressional Budget Office said at the start of the following year.
With a presidential election on the horizon, the Freedom Caucus could be looking for ways to undermine Biden any way it can. Destroying the economy he's helping to recover would do just that.
The Washington Post reported Monday that "White House spokesperson Olivia Dalton told reporters that she had no updates on whether Biden plans to sign a continuing resolution."
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