Chip Roy (R-TX), a member of the House Freedom Caucus, speaks during a news conference on federal government spending on Capitol Hill in Washington, September 12, 2023.
Elisabetta Frantz | Reuters
After six months of budget stalemate, stopgap funding measures and near government shutdowns, Congress this weekend finalized the remaining parts of a permanent spending package for the remainder of the fiscal year.
Before House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., can exhale, he will have to face hardline House Republicans in the Freedom Caucus.
And they have made it clear that they intend to raise the temperature on the president’s next tough funding battle: Ukraine.
“I can promise you, if you introduce a bill on Ukraine and you haven’t secured the border, there will be a problem within the ranks and on Capitol Hill,” said Rep. Chip Roy, a member of the Freedom Caucus, R – Tx., Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
Johnson is already in trouble with the Freedom Caucus over his concessions to pass the budget bill and avoid a government shutdown.
“I think Speaker Johnson — I’ve spoken about this publicly — made a mistake,” Roy said. “I don’t think this bill reflected what the American people want.”
Roy joins the chorus of hard-line Republicans who opposed the budget bill as it passed through chambers of Congress in recent days. Moments after the House voted to pass the budget bill Friday morning, hardline Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., made a motion to oust Johnson from office.
Johnson made several last-minute moves to pass the budget bill before funding ran out at midnight Friday, after which a partial government shutdown would take effect.
For example, he disobeyed the House’s 72-hour review rule, which requires a 72-hour window after legislative text is released and before voting so lawmakers can review proposals.
He also used an accelerated voting procedure that requires two-thirds votes in favor rather than a simple majority, meaning he would have to seek Democratic support to pass the legislation.
“We famously have the smallest majority in the history of the United States,” Johnson said Thursday on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” “So yes, by necessity, you have to get both sides to agree on a lot of this.”
Compromise with Democrats was one of the key grievances that led to former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s ouster from office. He became the first speaker to be forcibly removed.
McCarthy’s fate has been a specter looming over Johnson’s tenure as he tries to balance the interests of the hard-line conservatives who elected him while making enough compromises to keep the government running.
With the budget finally agreed, it will be more difficult for Johnson to avoid the decision on financing Ukraine.
Congress has continued to target Ukraine with funding, which has been running out for months. The House is currently considering a $95 billion spending proposal to provide aid to Ukraine and Israel, along with other war-torn regions, which the Senate approved in February.
But Republicans like Roy oppose prolonged aid for the ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia: “Not a dollar should go to funding Ukraine – not even a dollar – if the U.S. border is wide open.”
The border has become one of the hottest issues in the 2024 elections, especially after Republicans pocketed a spending package that would have provided $20 billion in border funding. Former President Donald Trump stoked Republican dissent, telling Republicans to oppose the package lest it guarantee Democrats a victory on the border this election year.