Kevin McCarthy, the House minority leader, is threatening to sabotage the legislation that the Senate is considering this week, setting up an argument with Mitch McConnell, the Senate minority leader.
As the leader of the House, McCarthy is threatening to derail the spending bill that the Senate is considering. He is backing a letter signed by 13 House Republicans, who are vowing to stop the legislation from being passed.
McCarthy tweeted in response to the letter:
Agreed. Except no need to whip—when I’m Speaker, their bills will be dead on arrival in the House if this nearly $2T monstrosity is allowed to move forward over our objections and the will of the American people. https://t.co/WCC477R4IM
— Kevin McCarthy (@SpeakerMcCarthy) December 20, 2022
The warning shot from McCarthy comes as House Republicans are urging him to take a tougher line against McConnell after he agreed to a deal with the Democrats that would extend the government's funding. McCarthy has publicly stated that the Senate should adopt a short-term spending bill to allow the negotiations on the longer-term bill to take place.
Despite publicly urging McConnell to change his position on the spending bill, a conservative member of the House wants McCarthy to "declare war" against the legislation if he supports it. This could affect his chances of becoming the next speaker of the House. McCarthy is currently trying to court a few members of his conference who could also defect, which could affect his speakership bid.
In a letter to McConnell, the 13 congressmen from the House demanded that the Senate not pass a spending bill that would extend the government's operations past the start of the new year.
The congressmen also told their Republican colleagues that they would oppose any legislation that includes the legislative priorities of the Senate's Republican leader. The letter stated that they would whip opposition if the bill passes.
"The congressmen stated that the Senate has the necessary 41 votes to stop the legislation. They also called the bill an "indefensible assault on the people." It is an attack on the separation of powers, as well as on fiscal responsibility and basic civic decency."
The letter was signed by members of the House.
Elect Chip Roy (R-TX), Andy Ogles (R-TN). Andy Biggs (R-AZ), Byron Donalds (R-FL) (R-SC), Bob Good (R-VA), Dan Bishop (R-NC) and more.
The deadline for Congress to pass a spending bill is midnight Friday. It can either pass an "omnibus" measure, which funds the government until March, or a stop-gap bill, which would prevent a shutdown.
The preceding is a summary of an article that originally appeared on Washington Examiner.
