Share this @internewscast.com
Frustrated Republican Rep. Chip Roy told his GOP colleagues they are going to ‘eat a s*** sandwich’ and ‘probably deserve it’ for opposing a stopgap spending bill that would avoid a government shutdown.
The Texas Congressman tore into critics of the plan to cut non-defense spending by eight percent and ramp up border security that he believes would appeal to all sides of the party.
Roy wrote the proposal that would keep the government funded for 30 days, and held Defense and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding at 2023 levels.
But the Republican Study Committee (RSC) added an amendment would make the deal even more conservative.
His fired-up comments came with the party in chaos over plans to avoid a federal government shutdown in 11 days.
Frustrated Republican Rep. Chip Roy told his GOP colleagues they are going to ‘eat a s*** sandwich’ and ‘probably deserve it’ for opposing a stopgap spending bill that would avoid a government shutdown
But a defiant Speaker of the house has vowed to battle on, and shame the critics who are against bills that would fund the government beyond the September 30 deadline.
A group of hardline conservatives are holding the proposals hostage in a bid to try and make Kevin McCarthy look weak.
House GOP negotiators on the short-term continuing resolution bill declared it ‘dead in the water’ on Wednesday as they scheduled an emergency all-conference spending meeting for the afternoon.
‘If a Republican opposes a 30-day, eight percent cut to the non-defense, non-veteran federal government with the best border security bill we’ve ever had attached to it, I honestly don’t know what to say to my fellow Republicans other than you’re gonna eat a sh** sandwich, and you probably deserve to eat it,’ he said on Wednesday.
‘I’m an equal opportunity basher of stupid, and I think this is stupid.’
‘Right now we’re trying to figure out what we’re going to do next.
‘I put forward what I think is a enormously beneficial path to bring people across the ideological spectrum together within the conference, so we can unite and send a message over the Senate, looking for someone to come up with a different alternative.’
House Republicans could not even advance a widely popular defense spending bill on Tuesday – with opposition from five conservatives thwarting efforts to pass just one of 12 appropriations bills.
So far only one appropriations bill – for military construction and Veterans’ Affairs – has passed the House with 10 days left before the end of the fiscal year. The Senate has not passed any.
It’s unclear whether they will move ahead as planned with a vote on a short-term continuing resolution (CR) that is likely to have even less support than the defense appropriations bill.
Speaker Kevin McCarthy refused to say whether he would put the bill on the floor Thursday as was originally planned. ‘We’re not going to quit, we’re never going to quit,’ he said vaguely.
The CR would punt the September 30 deadline that would trigger a government shutdown to October 30.
House GOP negotiators worked through Tuesday night and Wednesday morning to tweak a deal brokered between the right-wing Freedom Caucus and pragmatic Main Street Caucus to shore up support after over a dozen Republicans, mostly from within the Freedom Caucus (HFC) said they would oppose it.
McCarthy must also contend with the chronic threats to his speakership from GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz, Fla.
Gaetz placed blame squarely on McCarthy if the government shuts down for not giving Republicans the top line numbers on the 12 appropriations bills they have long demanded. He vowed cutting a spending deal with Democrats would trigger a motion to vacate.
‘We will have a government shutdown and it is absolutely Speaker McCarthy’s fault. We cannot blame Joe Biden for not having moved our individual spending bills. We cannot blame House Democrats. We can’t even blame Chuck Schumer in the Senate,’ Gaetz told reporters.
‘If Speaker McCarthy relies on Democrats to pass a continuing resolution, I would call the Capitol moving truck to his office pretty soon because my expectation would be he’d be out of the Speaker’s office quite promptly.’
Roy, who helped author the CR bill, predicted the RSC amendment would not change the tide on the deal as he tore into GOP leadership for not hashing out the details of the spending fight sooner.
‘Leadership should have been having” the questions we’re having right now in July. We should have been doing this. We shouldn’t have been broken for August for six weeks,’ he said. ‘But here we sit.’
All this is for a bill that would not pass the Senate – but would give the upper chamber a starting point to work with on a deal to keep the government open while lawmakers hash out their differences on 12 separate appropriations bills.
Meanwhile in the Senate, Pennsylvania Democrat John Fetterman dared the House to pass a spending bill by promising he’d put on a suit if they avoid a government shutdown.
A defiant Kevin McCarthy has vowed to battle on, and shame the critics who are against bills that would fund the government beyond the September 30 deadline
Pennsylvania Democrat John Fetterman dared the House to pass a spending bill by promising he’d put on a suit if they avoid a government shutdown
Fetterman’s casual attire came into question after Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer did away with the required business attire on the Senate floor, meaning a suit and tie for men.
The freshman senator went on a raucous offense on X after Republicans criticized his clothing. ‘I figure if I take up vaping and grabbing the hog during a live musical, they’ll make me a folk hero,’ Fetterman posted Tuesday, referring to the recent Beetlejuice controversy involving Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo.
