July 26, 2023

GOP conservatives’ demands imperil House spending bills

 Roll Call - The bill funding military housing and veterans’ benefits is supposed to be the easiest one of the 12 annual appropriations measures to pass. Members of the House Freedom Caucus and other hard-line GOP conservatives are about to test that thinking. Twenty-one Republicans have signed a letter pledging to oppose any spending bill unless it meets their terms. Another, retiring Rep. Victoria Spartz, R-Ind., is promising to vote against rules needed to bring any bills to the floor. 

So far, with little to no Democratic support expected for the Military Construction-VA bill due to partisan riders added by the GOP-controlled House Appropriations Committee, there’s no clear path to passage. And if the “milcon” bill can’t pass the House, there’s probably little hope for any of the others, including the agriculture bill that’s also currently slotted for the floor this week.

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