Five Republican factions to watch in the fight over government funding

Republican Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana and Republican leadership faced opposition from all corners of the Republican convention last week with their government funding bill.

The measure was meant to be the start of the budget dispute with the Democrats, but Johnson had to cancel a vote on it scheduled for Wednesday when it became clear that the Republicans did not have enough votes to pass it. To make matters worse, the opposition came from different and sometimes contradictory groups.

Here are the GOP factions to keep an eye on as the fight over congressional funding heats up.

Hardliner

The decision by Republican Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana to attach a six-month interim funding plan, also known as a Continuing Resolution (CR), to the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act is consistent with a strategy pushed by hard-line conservatives and former President Trump.

One of the conservatives' main goals in the fight for funding is for both chambers to reach a funding agreement that would push the shutdown deadline back from September 30 to March 2025. Some also saw the SAVE Act as a lever in later negotiations with the Democratic-controlled Senate.

Hard-line conservatives see the move as a way to avoid being saddled with a massive year-end omnibus package that combines all 12 annual funding bills. They also say the move would give the next president more influence over how federal funding is structured for the rest of 2025, as many remain confident Trump can return to the White House in November.

Although plans for a vote on the bill were scrapped last week, Conservatives are confident the plan will gain more support in the coming days, with members of the party leadership saying they would work throughout the weekend to reach consensus.

“I hope we get support for this. If not, we'll have to start all over again,” Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), a member of the House Freedom Caucus, told The Hill last week.

“What I don't want to do is open the checkbook to the Senate in December. I just don't want to do that.”

Defence Falcons

Among the main opponents of the bill were the defense liberals, who fear that a six-month freeze in funding at the current level would harm the military.

“If it goes beyond December 31st, I will not vote for it,” House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) told The Hill last week, adding to other reporters that a six-month interim solution would be “terrible for defense.”

Republican Rep. Ken Calvert of California, chairman of the Appropriations subcommittee that drafts the annual Defense Department funding bill, also told reporters last week that while he plans to support the speaker “in this endeavor,” he is concerned.

“It's the largest undertaking in the world,” Calvert said. “You can't do something like this in that time. So hopefully we can get this work done much sooner.”

Under the Republican-backed interim proposal, funding for federal programs would remain largely at the levels Congress set when it last voted on spending for fiscal year 2024. But Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin warned in a recent letter that such a proposal could lead to a “litany of difficulties” for the military – a view that defense hawks like Calvert say they do not disagree with.

Fiscal hawks

The interim bill has also met with a cool response from the penny pinchers. Some of them are completely against the idea of ​​a CR and believe that Congress should instead focus on passing twelve annual funding bills.

Some also base their opposition to this interim measure on the national debt, which has risen to over $35 trillion.

Although Republican Rep. Cory Mills of Florida supports the SAVE Act, he said in a statement last week that he would vote against the CR if it came to a vote, citing gross national debt and interest costs.

“The fact is that the total gross national debt has increased by $2.45 trillion in the last year alone; that's $6.71 billion per day, $4.66 million per minute, and $77,631 per second. The interest on the national debt alone now exceeds $3 billion per day,” Mills said.

“This level of reckless spending is absolutely unsustainable for our country. We cannot continue to print money that fuels inflation and destroys the middle class. This is fiscal irresponsibility at its worst.”

Moderate

Moderate Republicans have concerns about this strategy – and also about the prospect of a government shutdown just weeks before Election Day.

The CR-plus-SAVE Act bill is sure to be doomed to failure in the Democratic-dominated Senate.

Moderates also expressed concerns about what a possible Plan B might look like if Johnson's original proposal did not work out.

The discussions come against a backdrop of Democrats becoming increasingly optimistic about their chances of retaking the House of Representatives in recent weeks as Vice President Harris has gained popularity as the party's presidential candidate.

guide

The Republican leadership is under pressure from all corners of the Republican Convention – and beyond.

Trump increased pressure on Republicans by urging the party to stick to the plan to attach the SAVE Act to the stopgap, even though many conference attendees acknowledge that the bill is unlikely to become law given opposition from Democrats in the Senate and the White House.

“Unless Republicans in the House and Senate receive absolute assurances on election security, THEY SHOULD NOT MAKE A PERMANENT BUDGET RESOLUTION,” Trump wrote in a social media post last week as the Republicans' makeshift proposal continued to weather the storm of opposition.

At the same time, other conference participants are pushing for a “clean” interim bill that would push the deadline back to December, an idea that is also favored by some Democrats as members of both parties urge Congress to complete its funding work before the end of the year.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, House Budget Committee Chairman Tom Cole (R-Oklahoma) said he believes lawmakers should instead focus on completing their funding work “and try to do it as quickly as possible.”

“Personally, I don't think it's a good thing to give a new president — and we're going to have a new president — an immediate budget crisis,” Cole said. “But to be honest, that's probably going to depend on the winner of the election. If they want it, Congress is always happy to pass the ball.”

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports and streaming video, visit The Hill.