Citing that Republicans were “wasting time with partisan bills,” the White House Office of Management and Budget issued statements on Monday announcing that the administration strongly opposes passage of the current versions of two appropriations bills that will be voted on this week in the House.
The statements built on the administration’s negotiated “good faith with the Speaker on bipartisan legislation” that resulted in the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA), which set spending levels for fiscal years 2024 and 2025. According to the White House, the FRA “held spending for non-defense programs roughly flat with FY 2023 levels, a compromise that protected vital programs Americans rely on from draconian cuts House Republicans proposed.” It also protected the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), Honoring our PACT Act of 2022, CHIPS and Science Act, and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
The White House stated that the partisan bills would “cut domestic spending to levels well below the FRA agreement and endanger critical services for the American people.” That would lead to deep cuts and “cause unacceptable harm” to the “administration’s initiatives“ on climate change and clean energy, law enforcement, consumer safety, education, and healthcare.
The real concern shared by the Biden administration wasn’t necessarily budget cuts, though, as much as it was to protect their woke agenda that has been quickly infused into the federal government. Their opposition became clear, as both statements declared:
The draft bills also include numerous new, partisan policy provisions with devastating consequences including harming access to reproductive healthcare, threatening the health and safety of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Intersex Americans (LGBTQI+), endangering marriage equality, hindering critical climate change initiatives, and preventing the Administration from promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion.
The bills targeted by the White House are H.R. 4366, which authorizes spending on military construction, Veterans Affairs (VA), and related agencies, and H.R. 4368, which covers agriculture, rural development, the Food and Drug Administration, and related agencies, for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2024.
The administration strongly opposed several listed sections of the bills, including the “VA Abortion Final Rule.” The proposed legislation would restrict abortions to the case of rape or incest, or “where a woman suffers from a physical disorder, physical injury, or physical illness, including a life-endangering physical condition caused by or arising from the pregnancy itself, that would, as certified by a physician, place the woman in danger of death unless an abortion is performed.” The White House claims that, if passed, the bill “would prevent VA from providing needed care to veterans when the health of the woman is endangered.”
H.R. 4366 would also “prevent VA from using funds to display any but the listed flags, thereby preventing VA from displaying flags demonstrating support for historically marginalized groups such as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Intersex veterans.”
Going after Biden’s woke agenda, the Republican spending bills would eliminate all climate hub and climate change research funding at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and rescind numerous funding programs, such as grants to assist agricultural producers and rural small businesses convert to renewable energy systems and help rural Americans “transition to clean, affordable, and reliable energy.”
The White House stated they were “ready to engage with both chambers of the Congress in a bipartisan appropriations process to enact responsible spending bills that fully fund Federal agencies in a timely manner,” while threatening that the president would veto the current version of the bills.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) was feeling the pressure from within his own party, as the House Freedom Caucus announced on Tuesday that they want to see all the proposed appropriations bills on the House floor.
CNN reported:
“We want to see all 12 of the appropriations bills,” Freedom Caucus member Matt Rosendale, a Montana Republican, told reporters. “We want leadership to uphold their end of the deal.”
He added, “If leadership believes they are going to trickle these out two at a time, three a week, four a week, that is just not going to be feasible because we will never be able to see what the total spending is until the very end … when we then try to uphold our commitment, our word to the American people that we will not push spending beyond the 1.471 (trillion dollars) for non-defense discretionary.”
The Freedom Caucus is right to be concerned, as the October 1 deadline to pass the appropriations bills is on the horizon. The bills need to pass both the House and Senate and garner the president’s approval by then. However, with the legislation already facing an uphill battle, it is likely that the process will end with plenty of fireworks and the threat of a shutdown, leaving McCarthy on the ropes, if not unseated.
Being optimistic about the bills’ passage, Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) reportedly predicted there would not be a government shutdown:
“The House is gonna say no, we’re gonna pass a good Republican bill out of the House and force the Senate and the White House to accept it, or we’re not going to move forward,” he said. “What would happen if Republicans for once stared down the Democrats and were the ones who refuse to cave and to betray the American people and the trust they put in us when they gave [us] the majority? So we don’t fear a government shutdown.”
