Fellow Conservative,

After 22 days without a Speaker of the House, Congressman Mike Johnson (R-La.) emerged from the Republican conference with the votes needed to secure the Speaker’s gavel. With unanimous support from all 220 Republicans, Mike Johnson has reopened the people’s House with an ambitious agenda to work for the American people.

Speaker Johnson's Priorities

To better understand how Speaker Johnson intends to lead, one can look to a “Dear Colleague” letter he released to the Republican conference on Monday, before his nomination for Speaker. The former constitutional lawyer highlighted the need to “restore trust” and “advance a comprehensive policy agenda supported by Conference consensus.” This was not his only assurance to the House conference to be a team player. Speaker Johnson pledged to “promote individual members” and “engage members in productive working groups.”

These promises of teamwork are a recognition of reality — the Republicans control the House by a very slim majority, and any work that is going to get done will require near unanimity to complete it.

And there is much work to do before a November 17th deadline to fund the government. Currently, only 4 out of 12 appropriations bills have been passed on the House floor, and none of the House’s bills have been taken up in the Senate.

The schedule of the House floor is always subject to change, but this is what the next couple of weeks look like for the House to take up the remaining appropriations bills:

• Week of October 23: consider Energy & Water
• Week of October 30: consider Legislative Branch; Interior & Environment; Transportation, Housing, & Urban Development
• Week of November 6: consider Financial Services & General Government; Commerce, Justice & Science
• Week of November 13: Labor/HHS, Ag

The House must pass these bills to put themselves in the best position to outmaneuver and out leverage Chuck Schumer’s bloated spending bills in the Senate. So far the House has already passed 4 of the 12 appropriations and the Senate has passed a grand total of 0. Even after 22 days without a Speaker, the House is further along in the process than the Senate.

Bidenomics is getting worse

From the beginning of the search for a new Speaker, Heritage Action has called for rigorous financial responsibility. In his first address to the House of Representatives as Speaker, Rep. Johnson said “The greatest threat to our national security is our nation’s debt.”

We cannot project strength abroad if we are weak at home, and our $33 trillion in debt makes us weaker. To put America’s finances into more relatable terms, let’s compare the federal government to the median family with an income of $74,580. If this family spends money like the federal government, it will spend $102,961 by the end of the year (adding $28,381 to their debt), despite already owing $564,749.

Countries are not immune from the consequences of their poor financial decisions, and contribute to the economic malaise that is squeezing American families. The Biden administration proudly boasted about economic growth this week, but look at what is happening in the lives of working Americans. 62% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck and home affordability for new buyers is practically at an all time low.

Congress must remove their blinders and set about the necessary work to cut spending. It is the only way to reverse this trend, and procrastination will only prolong the pain.

Biden's Failing Funding Request

On October 20th, Biden made an emergency funding request to Congress for over $105 billion in aid for Ukraine, Israel, illegal alien processing, and global humanitarian aid:

• $61.4 billion for Ukraine
• $13.6 billion for open border policies
• $14.3 billion for Israel
• $10 billion for global humanitarian need (including Gaza)

In the Senate, Chuck Schumer is trying to build bipartisan support with Republicans for Biden’s funding request. But it’s a bad plan, and Heritage Action has the facts.

                               >>>Read our activist toolkit HERE<<<

We strongly encourage you to read the full background here, but here are a few key points on why Biden’s $105 billion request is a failure for Americans:

• Biden’s funding for Ukraine lacks accountability. The United States has already given $113 billion in aid to Ukraine without proper oversight or a clear plan from the Biden Administration.

• More “border funding” doesn’t mean the border will be secured. Biden is not asking for this money to build a wall, end catch-and-release, or close the asylum loopholes. This money will help expand Biden’s open border operations.

• Not all foreign aid is the same. Israel is designated by the United States as a major non-NATO ally, and the United States and Israel have multiple longstanding defense agreements. America has an interest in maintaining stability in a volatile region, and Israel is a key part of our strategy.

Helping Israel replenish defensive munitions to protect their people and their borders is a show of strength and a deterrent to Iran’s meddling, and military aid to Israel stands in contrast to Ukrainian aid dollars, which have also funded the salaries of government bureaucrats.

For these reasons, aid to Israel is deserving of its own debate and consideration — it should not be held hostage as part of Biden's attempt to force Congress to pass a large and unpopular spending request.

Please take time on Monday to call your Senators and tell them to reject Biden’s failed funding request. Collectively, our voices can change Washington.

Thank you for all that you do!

Ryan and the Heritage Action team

Join the fight to advance the conservative agenda.