This week, prior to the September 30 deadline to authorize funding for federal government operations for the next fiscal year, Congress passed legislation to temporarily extend current federal funding to December 20, 2024.While measures in the bill to address the effectiveness of the Secret Service were clearly needed, this result was far from ideal.
Earlier this month, I voted in favor of Speaker Johnson’s plan to fund the government into March while strengthening election integrity by enhancing protections against illegal immigrants voting in the upcoming election. However, the Democrat-controlled Senate, which has made virtually no effort to pass its own appropriations bills all year, refused.When the one side of a disagreement won’t talk to the other, it frustrates good-faith legislative work.
Restoring fiscal responsibility to Washington is important. Political realities did not permit House Republicans to dictate the way forward on our preferred terms. Shutting down the government in a time of economic instability less than 40 days prior to elections unwisely cedes leverage to the Biden-Harris administration. The 2013 federal government shutdown showed what can happen when a Democrat administration determined to proclaim the power of the federal government in our daily lives executes a government shutdown at its own discretion. During that shutdown, President Obama made sure the American people felt the pain of the shutdown, as his administration abused its discretion by refusing to guarantee veterans benefits and blockingWorldWar II veterans fromWashington, DC’s war memorials.
