House Appropriations Chairman Hal Rogers (R., Ky.) has unveiled a 3-week continuing resolution that cuts spending by $6 billion. The House will vote on it next week. A GOP aide tells NRO it should pass “easily.” And it probably will, given that all of the proposed cuts were also included in H. R. 1, the long-term spending bill (seven months, $61 billion in cuts) passed by the House last month.
But a number of influential conservative groups have expressed their opposition to the bill, and are urging conservatives to pursue a long-term, comprehensive approach sooner rather than later. The leaders of Heritage Action, the Family Research Council and Club for Growth issued a joint press release Friday announcing their opposition to this (and any further) short-term resolution, and signaling to House conservatives that they are watching.
“A strategy of short-term extensions from now until the end of the fiscal year makes no sense,” Heritage Action’s CEO Michael Needham said. “If we blink now and allow the proponents of big government to drag out negotiations, it will undercut our ability to fight for conservative policies and result in fewer reforms and less cuts.”
Family Research Council President Tony Perkins criticized conservative Republicans for failing to include a measure to defund Planned Parenthood. “The time to bring our fiscal house in order is now, and defunding organizations that work against the principles of a majority of Americans needs to be done to show that this Congress is serious,” Perkins said.
Chris Chocola, president of Club for Growth, warned that conservatives were “walking into a spending trap” by continuing to enact short-term spending resolutions, and were putting themselves at a disadvantage in the run-up to negotiations over the debt limit.
“When the debt ceiling debate happens in a few weeks, the big spenders will offer a so-called “compromise” in exchange for raising the debt ceiling and giving them a series of new credit cards,” Chocola said. “Such a ‘deal’ would be a complete sell-out of America’s taxpayers, who deserve major spending reductions and structural reforms that will solve our debt crisis. Rather than going down that road to disaster, fiscally conservative House members should insist on more than a short-term CR now.”