Sanity prevailed on Wednesday with House Majority Leader Mike Johnson’s scrapping of a bloated, 1,500-page continuing resolution that Democrats demanded lest the government be shut down. That came after an immense pressure campaign making it clear to Republicans that the time for business as usual was over.
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As spending fights go, this one initially followed the same path they always take. Congressional members waited until the last minute to try to fund the government and then used the threat of “crisis” to load up a continuing resolution with thousands of unnecessary, wasteful initiatives. This time, though, it didn’t work, and Democrats are throwing a hissy fit over it.
SEE: House Minority Leader Wails About GOP Killing Continuing Resolution
Republicans should send Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries a thank you card because he just handed them a slam dunk in this spending fight. By centering the standard on whether the government shuts down or not, the GOP has been given all the leverage in this fight.
I’m asking congressional Republicans to read this slowly because it might confuse them, but they have a majority. That means they can now pass a clean CR. If Democrats then vote it down, angry that they didn’t get their pork-filled 1,500-page monstrosity, then they will be the ones shutting the government down. Jeffries would be forced to eat his own words about hurting “everyday Americans.”
The same thing applies to all the emotional pleas about “disaster relief.”
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Again, make Democrats own this. If they want to make disaster relief a marker, then pass a standalone bill and make them vote it down. What excuse would they have to do so after they proclaimed how vital it is? And if Democrats do scuttle it, then Republicans can go to the podium and place the blame where it belongs.
It’s so simple, and I’m at a loss as to why that wasn’t the plan in the first place. If Republicans can’t grow a backbone and play hardball now, especially when the opportunity is being handed to them on a silver platter, then when can they? Democrats have no leverage, and it’s long past time they are made to understand what losing actually entails. It means not getting all your priorities passed because you scream “crisis” every few months after refusing to govern in a normal fashion.
Republicans need to put their differences aside and come together to do the smart thing. Pass a clean CR and force the hand of Democrat leadership.
