
WASHINGTON – Representative Chip Roy of Texas, known for bridging conservative hard-liners and House Republican leaders, is rallying support to connect border-security provisions to a government funding bill aimed at extending the current funding beyond September 30th, when it is set to expire.
With a Republican-led House and a Democratic-controlled Senate, there’s a pressing need for at least a short-term agreement to prevent a partial federal shutdown. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and his leadership team had been working towards advancing 12 separate spending bills before October 1st, with negotiations involving the conservative House Freedom Caucus. However, this effort encountered resistance, leading to the cancellation of a vote on one of the bills.
The conservatives’ objections largely stem from the belief that Republican leaders’ support for the fiscal year 2024 spending bills—totaling $1.59 trillion in annual discretionary spending, adjusted to $1.471 trillion through reallocating funds from pre-funded programs—constitutes a gimmicky approach with no significant impact on spending trajectories.
Amidst this debate, Chip Roy is circulating a letter advocating that Republicans link their support for a bill funding the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)—one of the 12 bills—to specific border-related actions. While he doesn’t overtly retract the Freedom Caucus’s request to bring fiscal year 2024 spending down to 2022 levels without resorting to isolated funding cuts, Roy’s focus on border issues could potentially circumvent House gridlock, even if his ideas might not succeed in the Senate.
Roy’s proposals encompass attaching the Republican border-security bill, H.R. 2, to the DHS spending bill. H.R. 2 previously passed the House on a partisan basis but stalled in the Senate. He also advocates ensuring the enactment of this bill and “similar strong border security legislation,” prohibiting government funds from contradicting its provisions.
Further, Roy suggests measures like securing the resignation or removal of DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, providing law enforcement and the military with tools to combat dangerous cartels, and reimbursing Texas for its $10 billion investment in aggressive border security measures.
In the letter obtained by The Wall Street Journal, Roy references H.R. 2’s passage and Mayorkas’s congressional hearings, emphasizing that true change requires using the power of the purse granted by the founders. His proposal underscores the necessity to protect Texas and fortify the border.
While the extent of lawmaker support for Roy’s letter remains uncertain, it notably zeroes in on Texas-specific concerns in addition to broader federal spending apprehensions. H.R. 2 focuses on bolstering personnel and equipment, tightening asylum eligibility, and resuming the construction of a southern border wall.
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