House GOP’s new plan to stop a shutdown will cause a world of hurt
House Republicans on Saturday released a plan to fund the government that, if passed, would make massive cuts to social safety net programs, infrastructure projects, and even veterans’ health care programs.
Democrats tried to work for months with Republicans to come up with a bill to fund the government. However, the House Republican bill left Democrats out and is a partisan plan that increases funding for President Donald Trump’s deportation plans while largely axing funding for infrastructure projects, a fund to help veterans exposed to toxic chemicals, and disaster-mitigation efforts, among other things.
For example, Politico reported that the legislation did not renew $40 million in funding for over 70 programs to benefit children and families, including $5 million for homeless shelters in Alaska.
From the Politico report:
Also forgone are $890 million in grants for health care facilities and equipment. Again, the fiscal 2024 funding had been distributed on a bipartisan basis: GOP Sens. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma, Roger Wicker of Mississippi were among those who requested funding for clinics and hospitals in their states.
Bipartisan emergency preparedness and disaster mitigation projects funded through $293 million of earmarked FEMA dollars are also not renewed, as well as $116 million in Small Business Administration funding and $107 million in workforce development projects. Clean water projects, law enforcement grants and tribal assistance are also targeted in the bill.
House Democrats say the funding bill does not include $22.8 billion for the Toxic Exposures Fund, which provides assistance to help veterans exposed to burn pits, Agent Orange, and other toxic substances during their service. They also said it cuts rent subsidies by more than $700 million, which Democrats said would allow landlords to “evict more than 32,000 households including veterans, survivors of domestic violence, seniors, and families with disabilities.”
Also missing is $20 million in funding for the Emergency Food Assistance Program, which, according to the Department of Agriculture, “helps supplement the diets of people with low income by providing them with emergency food assistance at no cost.” Cuts to that program come as Trump’s tariffs are expected to raise the cost of food even higher.
And the funding bill would also lead to $1 billion in cuts to the District of Columbia, which city officials told The Washington Post could lead to cuts to the police force, teaching staff, and more.
House Democrats appear united in opposition to the funding bill.
“House Democrats would enthusiastically support a bill that protects Social Security, Medicare, veterans health and Medicaid, but Republicans have chosen to put them on the chopping block to pay for billionaire tax cuts,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries wrote in a letter on Friday. “We cannot back a measure that rips away life-sustaining healthcare and retirement benefits from everyday Americans as part of the Republican scheme to pay for massive tax cuts for their wealthy donors like Elon Musk. Medicaid is our redline.”
Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, said in a news release that the Republican funding bill also does not rein in Trump co-President Elon Musk from making unilateral cuts to the government that has caused chaos across the country.
“This continuing resolution is a blank check for Elon Musk and creates more flexibility for him to steal from the middle class, seniors, veterans, working people, small businesses, and farmers to pay for tax breaks for billionaires,” DeLauro said. “Veterans will suffer with higher housing costs, poorer quality of health care at the VA, and no advance funding for treatment from exposure to toxic chemicals. It makes the cost of living worse for so many hardworking people. It raises rents for many low-income families. With reduced staff and closure of Social Security offices, seniors will struggle. This bill also cuts Army Corps of Engineers construction projects by more than 40%, while Elon Musk’s SpaceX program gets special treatment across the government.”
Democrat Patty Murray of Washington, vice chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, echoed DeLauro’s sentiments.
“Instead of working with Democrats to invest in working families and communities all across America, Speaker Johnson has rolled out a slush fund continuing resolution that would give Donald Trump and Elon Musk more power over federal spending—and more power to pick winners and losers, which threatens families in blue and red states alike,” Murray said in a news release.
House Republicans plan to vote on the legislation on Thursday—one day before the government is set to shut down.
Republicans apparently hope that if they pass the bill and leave town, it will cause voters to blame Democrats if the Senate doesn’t pass the legislation. In the Senate, the bill needs 60 votes to avoid a filibuster, meaning that even though Republicans control the chamber, Democrats are needed for passage.
However, that is a gamble.
That would require House Republicans to keep nearly their entire conference together in voting for the funding bill since they have a razor-thin majority in the chamber. Republicans currently have a 218-214 majority. That means if every member of Congress is present for the vote, Republicans could lose just two votes. (A tie results in the failure of the bill.)
In December, the last time the House voted for a funding bill, 34 Republicans voted against it—a number that is more than enough to tank the new legislation.
Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky appears to be a firm no. And Politico reported that three other GOP lawmakers—Reps. Tony Gonzales, Brian Fitzpatrick, and Cory Mills—are on the fence.
Trump told Republicans to vote for the spending bill, which could get the House GOP onboard as they often blindly do whatever he wants.
“The House and Senate have put together, under the circumstances, a very good funding Bill (‘CR’)! All Republicans should vote (Please!) YES next week,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. “Great things are coming for America, and I am asking you all to give us a few months to get us through to September so we can continue to put the Country’s ‘financial house’ in order.”
T-minus four days until shutdown.