More Republican House Members Sign onto Promise to Block Legislation from GOP Senators Who Vote for Omnibus

Thirty-one House Republicans signed onto a letter Wednesday vowing to block legislation from any GOP senator who votes for the massive $1.7 trillion omnibus spending package

On Tuesday, 13 House Republicans signed a letter promising to block the legislative priorities of any Republican senator who votes for the omnibus deal with Democrats just days before Congress leaves town for Christmas. Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) joined them via a tweet. Just one day later, 14 members vowing to combat GOP senators voting for the bill grew to 31 after McCarthy joined the effort.

“This 4,155-page bill spends $1.7 trillion to further empower the Biden administration’s tyrannical attack on the liberty and security of our constituents, and it must be opposed with any fiber of political fortitude Senate Republicans still have,” the conservative House members wrote.

The conservatives oppose the bill because the package maintains the status quo in Washington, DC, by spending money the nation does not have. America’s debt stands at over $31 trillion.

“It will add to our $31 trillion national debt, digging a deeper hole for our children and grandchildren to crawl out of,” the letter continued. “And because almost every Senate Republican has bloviated about inflation and the national debt at some point in the past two years, a vote for this bill should be viewed as a blatant display of hypocrisy.

“As such, we reiterate that if any omnibus passes in the remaining days of this Congress, we will oppose and whip opposition to any legislative priority of those senators who vote for its passage – including the Republican leader,” the letter detailed. “We will oppose any rule, any consent request, suspension voice vote, or roll call vote of any such Senate bill, and will otherwise do everything in our power to thwart even the smallest legislative and policy efforts of those senators.”

Reps. Chip Roy (R-TX), Matt Gaetz (R-FL), Scott Perry (R-PA), and Andy Biggs (R-AZ), co-signers on Tuesday, were joined Wednesday by Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), Louie Gohmert (R-CO), Bill Posey (R-FL), and Rep.-elect Keith Self (R-TX), among others.

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Democrats have been working to pass the omnibus bill before a self-imposed deadline of Thursday to avoid a shutdown at midnight on Friday. But negotiations have stalled since Sen. Mike Lee’s (R-UT) Title 42 amendment has thrown a wrench in the process. As a result, Congress could have to pass a short-term spending resolution (CR) to keep the government open if the standoff continues.

If Congress passes a short-term CR to keep the government open until February, House Republicans would win a large victory. Defeating the omnibus bill would improve House Republicans’ position in the new Congress to gut many of the proposals in the bill — for example, the $45 billion worth of aid to Ukraine. That $45 billion is in addition to the $66 billion of taxpayers’ money lawmakers have already approved  for Ukraine.