WASHINGTON — The House voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to prevent a government shutdown after new Republican Speaker Mike Johnson was forced to reach across the aisle to Democrats when hard-right conservatives revolted against his plan.
Johnson's proposal to temporarily fund the government into the new year passed on a bipartisan 336-95 tally, but 93 Republicans voted against it including two GOP members of the Kansas delegation First District Congressman Tracey Man and Fourth District Representative Ron Estes. Rep. Jake LaTurner and Democrat Sharice Davids voted for the bill.
In a statement from his office Estes wrote ,"The two-step CR will avoid another bloated omnibus spending bill at Christmastime, but it unfortunately doesn't go far enough to address our $33.6. trillion debt and doesn't even reduce spending to previously agreed levels in the Fiscal Responsibility Act."
"2023 is a tipping point – we now borrow one out of every five dollars that we spend, and this is no time to govern through continuing resolutions. I look forward to working with Speaker Johnson to pass the remaining five appropriations bills for our current fiscal year, and then finally returning to regular order in 2024 to reduce wasteful government spending that has caused rampant inflation that is crushing Kansas families."
With $33.6 trillion in debt, now is not the time to govern by continuing resolution – much less one that doesn't cut spending to the levels agreed to in the Fiscal Responsibility Act.
Rep. Mann said about his no vote,“I did not come to Congress to be a caretaker in the slow demise of America. I came to fight and work to make it stronger. Right now, with our national debt topping $33 trillion, making America stronger means having a hard-fought battle over government spending. We cannot afford to pass another continuing resolution, which just enables more of the same reckless government waste that got our country into this financial mess in the first place. I remain committed to reducing and reprioritizing government spending, securing the southern border, and ending the weaponization of the federal government. This continuing resolution accomplishes none of that. It contains no spending reductions and no border security. We must get our country back on track.”
“The government borrows too much money, and it spends too much money,” said Rep. Mann. “The real solution to reducing Washington Democrat bloated spending is to return to regular order and pass 12 individual appropriations bills. We must keep working towards that commitment.”
The House Freedom Caucus also opposed the bill because it lacked the necessary spending cuts.
H.R. 6363, the Furthering Continuing Appropriations and Other Extensions Act now goes to the U.S. Senate where it is expected to pass.