Top conservative previews next government spending showdown, unveils demands to curb Biden ‘abuse of power’

Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, is calling on House Republicans to oppose any government spending agreement that does not confront what he calls an “abuse of power” by President Biden and Congressional Democrats. 

“To preserve the American Dream, we are morally obligated [and] empowered by the founders…to withhold funding for government as means to force change to stand athwart the devastating abuse of power by Biden Democrats,” Roy said in a lengthy social media statement overnight Thursday.

Lawmakers will return to Capitol Hill after Labor Day and face a time crunch to reach some agreement on spending by Sept. 30 in order to avoid risking a partial government shutdown.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is weighing a stopgap spending patch, known as a “continuing resolution” (CR), for several weeks to give his GOP majority more time to craft 12 separate appropriations bills for each part of the government rather than lumping priorities into a massive “omnibus” spending bill, something he promised to avoid. 

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Rep. Chip Roy listed several policy changes he was seeking in exchange for support for any sort of government funding deal. (Getty Images)

Roy said that a CR would be “dead on arrival,” pointing out that it would be an extension of the “omnibus” government funding bill passed by a Democrat-controlled Congress last year. He also listed several conservative policy points, including cracking down on drug and human trafficking at the border, ending “weaponization” of the Justice Department and ending “woke social engineering” in the military. 

This comes after Roy suggested in a Texas radio interview on Wednesday morning that the hard line conservative House Freedom Caucus would soon release a statement reiterating their demands to slash spending in the next fiscal year to pre-COVID pandemic levels, below the threshold agreed upon by McCarthy and President Biden.

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When asked about whether Roy’s recent list reflects the Freedom Caucus’s expected memo, a source familiar pointed out to Fox News Digital that he wielded influence as the group’s policy chair. 

Rep. Chip Roy said the House Freedom Caucus would soon release its position on the spending fight.

“For the [House GOP], there are 45 days to prove to the people the [House GOP] will fight for Americans &, thus, is worthy of the majority.  When [government] funding expires on 9/30, we must agree only to fund a government that secures the blessings of liberty,” Roy said in his most recent comments.

“We must reject decline & address existential crises making hard-working citizens doubt the American dream: inflation & spending, open borders & sex/fentanyl trafficking, unsafe communities & 2-tier weaponized justice, a woke military, [Critical Race Theory/Diversity, Equity & Inclusion], & a war on reliable energy.”

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Several members of the GOP’s razor-thin House majority have expressed opposition to passing a short-term CR in September. 

Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy suggested a continuing resolution was possible. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

McCarthy would likely be able to pass one with Democratic support, but there is a chance Roy and others could stall it procedurally – something conservatives did earlier this year when they ground the House floor to a halt in protest over McCarthy’s deal with President Biden on the debt limit. 

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It is highly unlikely that Democrats would agree to any government funding deal that would take aim at Biden’s progressive policies. Senate Democrats have already signaled their spending bills will be at higher levels than those of their House GOP majority counterparts.

The speaker’s allies have emphasized that a worse alternative would be a longer CR, which Congress could be forced into if there is no agreement, arguing that it would only extend priorities passed under a left-wing government.