The House of Representatives will vote on individual appropriations bills instead of a continuing resolution as a stopgap measure after Speaker Kevin McCarthy caved to Matt Gaetz’s demands.
Gaetz and other Republicans came out of a meeting with McCarthy, saying that bringing individual appropriations bills would now be their direction.
“Gaetz said that he’s advocating for pausing consideration of the Pentagon spending bill and moving to bills that cut spending,” NBC News political analyst Jake Sherman said.
“He mentioned: State-Foreign Ops, Agriculture, Energy and Water. Gaetz sounded more productive than I’ve heard him in a while,” Sherman added.
“Also: he said again there are not enough votes for a [continuing resolution].”
Earlier this week, five Republicans joined Democrats in voting against the defense appropriations bill, which failed 212-216.
The five conservatives pushed for more spending cuts.
CNN chief congressional correspondent Manu Raju posted:
“Gaetz just told his conference that seven Rs would vote against any CR to keep government open.”
The Republicans have a 221-212 majority, with 217 votes needed for legislation to pass in the /house.
The three Republican members are out for medical reasons:
Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana is undergoing cancer treatment.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida just had a baby
Rep. Frank Lucas of Oklahoma is recovering from surgery
The leaders of the House Freedom Caucus and the Main Street Caucus had drafted a resolution that would have extended government spending until Oct 31.
The measure would have required an 8 percent cut to all discretionary spending, not including the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs.
The measure would have also included the GOP’s HR 2 border security legislation passed earlier this year.
But a dozen Republican members said they would oppose the measure.
Gaetz posted on X:
“Trump Opposes the Continuing Resolution. Hold the line.”
Gaetz’s post included a post from President Donald Trump shared on Truth Social urging Republicans to use the power of the purse to place a check on Joe Biden’s “weaponized Government that refuses to close the Border, and treats half the country as Enemies of the State.”
“Use the power of the purse and defend the Country!”
The US needs to vote on the 12 individual appropriations bills to get the fiscal house back in order.
The US will see over a $2 trillion deficit for fiscal year 2023 and a $33 trillion national debt.
The interest payments on the debt for 2023 are $644 billion, up 30 percent from 2022, according to The Wall Street Journal.
“Debt payments are getting close to spending on national defense of $692 billion if you can believe it. A third of the current deficit is going to pay interest on money borrowed for previous spending blowouts,” the Journal wrote.
Spending is up 9 percent ($534 billion) from 2022, the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget said.
The spending is because of all the new programs the Democrats tacked on since Biden entered the White House.
Gaetz’s staying firm in his demands on McCarthy appears to be paying off.
READ: Matt Gaetz Reveals Bold Plan to Protect Trump from Jack Smith’s Political Witch Hunt
