A government spending deal announced by congressional leaders on Saturday could test Republican voters’ patience if no border security measures are included.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) made a deal on a two-tranche short-term government funding bill, a continuing resolution that would — if enacted — keep the federal government in operation through March 8, according to CNN.
Current funding expires on January 19 for some federal agencies. Others, such as the Department of Defense, face a February 2 deadline.
The deal follows a previous compromise over a top-line spending figure of $1.66 trillion, which was revealed by Johnson and Schumer earlier this week, as previously reported by The Dallas Express. Johnson’s endorsement of the figure outraged Rep. Roy (R-TX) and other House members in the Freedom Caucus, and the latest news could put the conference in a tight spot considering the high levels of support among Republican voters for securing the southern border, decreasing federal spending to keep inflation in check, and getting crime under control.
Johnson pitched the deal to House Republicans in a conference call Saturday night. Details of the deal will reportedly be made public Sunday evening. Still, if the reaction by Republican voters resembles the one some had to the top-line spending announcement, House Republicans could face angry constituents this primary season.
“Vacate @SpeakerJohnson. He’s EXTREMELY weak, makes excuses. He’s putting politics over what’s best for the country. His short time as speaker has already been a disgrace. He doesn’t understand what’s happening. He can’t be trusted,” wrote an X user with the handle @Bdub379.
In response to a post by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Florida) that expressed displeasure with the spending figure, one social media user praised the representative and criticized those who seem to be willing to stomach the growing national debt.
“Thank you for drawing a line in the sand for all Americans. Instead of putting your head in it like others. Thank you for listening to the people you represent,” wrote @libertypat_.
One woman by the name of Sharon Jackson wrote, “Close the border and shut down the government! No money to corrupt communist Zelenskyy.”
Some House Republicans, including Roy, have been arguing that the federal government needs to stop spending taxpayer money on Ukraine’s war effort and focus its resources on shoring up border security. Additionally, Roy has suggested that Johnson’s position as speaker could be under threat because of his seeming inability to advance Republican policy priorities.
“I’m leaving [a motion to vacate] on the table. I’m not going to say I’m going to go file it tomorrow. I’m not saying I’m not going to file it tomorrow,” Roy said on Fox News’ The Steve Deace Show earlier this week.
He also expressed doubt that the compromise would do any favors for people who think the recent record-high levels of unlawful migration are untenable.
“I will amend my sentence if we end up getting some massive policy wins attached to the spending, but I do not believe that we can possibly get enough policy wins on the riders to offset the damage of spending that much more money,” Roy said.
Roy has also made it clear earlier that he has no problem using the fear of an impending government shutdown as a bargaining chip in negotiations for securing the border.
“I am obliged to inform you of my duty to refuse to fund — or otherwise empower — the United States Government, or any foreign government it is supporting, unless and until it fulfills its constitutional obligation to defend our borders from invasion,” wrote Roy of Texas in an open letter to his Republican colleagues earlier this month.
Johnson himself has previously admitted that negotiations with congressional Democrats have not exactly yielded clear policy wins for his own party.
“This is not what we all want,” Johnson said, according to Spectrum News. “It’s not the best deal that we can get if we were in charge of both chambers and the White House. But it’s the best deal that we could broker under the circumstances.”
Nonetheless, Johnson pointed to the situation as an opportunity to “fight for our policy priorities, for our policy riders,” per USA Today.
On January 10, Johnson met with President Joe Biden to discuss border security. During that meeting, he purportedly “strongly encouraged the President to use his executive authority to secure the southern border,” according to Johnson’s spokesperson, Raj Shah, NBC News reported.
The House-approved border bill — HR 2 — aims to abate the record number of unlawful migrants crossing into the United States by creating heavier penalties for unlawful entry, imposing more stringent asylum, parole, and detention policies, building more physical fortifications on the border, and increasing the number of agents on patrol.
The attempt to use the government shutdown as a means to push border control measures was criticized by the White House, whose spokesperson, Andrew Bates, claimed last week that “House Republicans are once more compromising America’s national security and economic growth with shutdown threats,” per The Messenger.
