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Dear John,
The more things change in Washington, the more they stay the same. Such is the case with too many Republicans in Congress, whose main priority is to BE in Congress, and who don’t truly want to shrink government or cut spending. After 2 years of Republican control of the House, and repeated spending bills primarily supported by Democrats because they kept the Biden/Pelosi/Schumer policies and spending levels in place---brace yourself for more of the same.
There are 3 funding battles currently taking place in Congress, any one of which COULD be used to massively cut spending and codify into law the executive actions by President Trump and the opportunities identified by Elon Musk’s DOGE team.
The one that was receiving the most attention is the “reconciliation” battle, which presents a limited ability to pass a budget framework that implements President Trump’s priorities without having to reach 60 votes in the Senate. The Freedom Caucus-led House version called for up to $2 trillion in spending cuts, while the competing Senate version contains no real spending cuts. These differences will have to be resolved, and it remains to be seen if Republicans will demonstrate the courage and conviction to pass the superior House version into law.
The second spending battle, now immediately on the horizon, is the March 14 expiration of the current government funding package from the December Continuing Resolution (CR) that I opposed, but was passed with 196 Democrat votes. After promising things would be different this year with Republicans having full control of government, congressional leaders are poised to simply extend the Democrat spending levels and policies thru the September 30 end of the 2025 fiscal year. If this happens, Americans will still be living under Democrat spending legislation nearly 3 years after Democrats lost the House!
Finally, the third spending battle is the effort to pass 12 individual appropriations bills reflecting Republican priorities by September 30, as required by law. The pertinent questions for this exercise are 1) will all Republicans work and vote to reduce spending and reverse the harmful Democrat policies, 2) will Republican congressional leadership pressure moderate members to enact the President’s agenda, including real spending cuts, and 3) will Republicans show the steely resolve to stare down Democrats even in the face of a potential government “shutdown”?
When will Republicans show the courage of their stated convictions and refuse to continue to fund the government that is doing so much harm to Americans? Now is the time!
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