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Georgia Republican Rep. Majorie Taylor Greene gave an ultimatum to her fellow House Republicans amid inaction on impeaching President Joe Biden and moves to protect former President Donald Trump from ongoing prosecutions she sees as highly political.
The Republican congresswoman said she would not vote to fund the government if House Republican leaders did not move to have articles of impeachment against Biden and take additional steps to shield Trump from federal investigations during a town hall-style event in Floyd County, Georgia.
“I’ve already decided I will not vote to fund the government unless we have passed an impeachment inquiry on Joe Biden,” Taylor Greene told the audience, to applause.
“I will not fund the government because I will not fund the weaponized part of the government. I’m not going to continue to fund the Biden regime’s weaponized government. So there should be no funding for Jack Smith. Special Counsel,” she said. “We had to fire David Weiss, who is protecting Hunter Biden on his special counsel. And we have to rein in the FBI. I will not vote for money to go towards those things.
“I will not vote for a continuing resolution that funds mask mandates, vaccine mandates, and COVID. Because that is over. Joe Biden even declared that is over,” she added.
“And lastly, my red line in the sand has always been, I will not vote to fund a war in Ukraine. We have to have peace,” she said. “So I will be happy to work with all of my colleagues. I will work with the Speaker of the House. I will work with everyone, but I will not fund those things. And I thought it was most important for me to tell you all first because I work for you. And that’s that’s what we have to do.”
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A shutdown is imminent as the House works to pass appropriations bills before the Sept. 30 deadline to fund the government, the Washington Examiner reported.
Members of the House Republican Conference are at odds over how much money should be spent in the upcoming fiscal year.
The time for Congress to pass the appropriations bills and avert a shutdown is running out. However, a shutdown is becoming more likely by the day as the House struggles to pass its appropriations bills and the Right opposes a continuing resolution, a temporary stopgap measure to fund the government at the same rate as last year.
The chairman of the Rules Committee, Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK), stated that he is “very much” concerned about a shutdown, particularly with a narrow 222-213 majority where every vote counts. However, a long list of unmet demands from some House conservatives makes things more difficult.
The lack of a commitment from House leadership to a top-line spending figure is a major sticking point for conservatives.
The top line for the appropriations bills, however, is already below what was agreed upon in a deal to raise the country’s debt ceiling, or borrowing capacity, between the Republican-majority House, Democratic-controlled Senate, and President Joe Biden, which some members find perplexing. However, conservatives want to commit to a single number and lower top-line spending levels.
“I will tell you, you can’t let the forest get in the way of the trees,” Cole said. “Right now, we need to be dealing with one tree at a time.”
Conservatives frequently suggest a $1.471 trillion spending cap, but House leadership has not made a commitment to that amount.
In order to prevent a government shutdown, the House Speaker, Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), said he has been working with conservatives on a top-line spending figure for more than two months. Their first priority is to make sure the Senate doesn’t try to force through a “omnibus” spending bill.
McCarthy stated to reporters that he is “committed to save as much money as we possibly can” when asked about the top-line spending target he is committed to.
Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) and other conservatives are urging Congress to pass the border security provisions in H.R. 2, the House’s earlier this year passed border security bill, in order to keep funding the government.
Roy has made it clear he won’t back any continuing resolution unless the border issue is resolved. Roy would also oppose a few of the 12 appropriations bills that collectively fund the federal government.
“Do the job that we need to do to secure the border of the United States and get our government to focus where it needs to focus,” Roy said. “Then come talk to me about whether or not there’s a short-term CR that can be married with policies that are going to force Biden to do his job.”
