Examples of GOP Leadership

Wait …. There’s more ….

DIY-HP-LED said:

All kidding aside, if they told Trump it was because they used Arabic numerals was the reason he lost, the next rally...

Click to expand...

Going to have to count the next election in binary.

I am going to miss him.
Christie on hot mic says Haley’s ‘gonna get smoked’
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie found himself on a hot mic ahead of his announcement in New Hampshire that he was ending his campaign, saying that Nikki Haley’s “gonna get smoked” in the race against Donald Trump.

“I mean look, she’s spent like 68 million so far, just on TV — spent 68 million so far — 59 million by DeSantis, and we spent 12. I mean, who’s punching above their weight and who’s getting a return on their investment, you know?” Christie said. “And she’s gonna get smoked. And you and I both know it. She’s not up to this.”

Christie could also be heard saying that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) “called me petrified” before the audio later cut out. The Hill has reached out to Christie’s and Haley’s campaigns for comment.

DeSantis touted Christie’s comments on Haley, writing in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter: “I agree with Christie that Nikki Haley is ‘going to get smoked.’”

Christie’s comments came just before the former New Jersey governor announced he would be ended his campaign. Christie has trailed former President Trump and Haley in New Hampshire — a state his campaign largely focused on during his presidential bid.

“It’s clear to me tonight that there isn’t a path for me to win the nomination,” Christie told his supporters at the Windham, N.H. town hall.

Christie faced increasing pressure to exit the race in an effort for Republicans to rapidly coalesce around an Trump alternative in the primary. Though Christie ended his bid, he did not offer an endorsement for either Haley or DeSantis.

printer said:

Going to have to count the next election in binary

Click to expand...

Roman numerals will be a thing with republicans, look for new laws, if they can do it to metric...

McCarthy is sitting at home with his feet up.....
Lawmakers see short-term stopgap as inevitable to avoid shutdown
An increasing number of lawmakers acknowledged Wednesday that another stopgap funding bill will be needed to avert a government shutdown, the same day a small group of conservatives in the House tanked a procedural vote in a sign of GOP opposition to a new spending deal.

Leaders on both sides have voiced optimism about the chances of Congress being able to approve full-year funding in the days ahead, but many see a stopgap, also known as a continuing resolution (CR), as unavoidable.

“We can’t do it by the 19th, so we will need a short-term CR to move forward,” Rep. Rosa DeLauro (Conn.), top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, said Wednesday, referencing the Jan. 19 deadline for preventing a partial shutdown.

Leaders announced a breakthrough in spending talks over the weekend after settling on a top-line number for fiscal 2024 funding. But negotiators say there is still much work to be done before they can complete their annual funding bills.

Sen. John Kennedy (La.), top Republican on the subcommittee that oversees funding for the Department of Energy and other agencies, said Wednesday that appropriators “can’t do anything” until they receive another set of numbers setting the levels for each of the 12 bills.

“I think everybody’s working hard to come up with those numbers. Nothing’s really easy around here right now,” said Sen. John Boozman (R-Ark.), another appropriator, adding he thinks the “only way” to prevent a shutdown next week is “to have a CR.”

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) previously said he would not approve another short-term CR. But he also appeared not to rule out the option this week if Congress needs more time to finish its funding work.

“I’m not ruling out anything, committing to anything, other than getting these appropriations done,” Johnson said when asked if he is ruling out a continuing resolution. “I’m very optimistic.”

However, Johnson has already taken an avalanche of criticism from his right flank, angered by the recent bipartisan top-line deal that they say is too high.

Johnson touted the deal as having set a $1.59 trillion top line for fiscal 2024 government funding, which is in line with the levels written in the Fiscal Responsibility Act that passed with bipartisan support last year. However, the deal also would allow for billions in additional funding for nondefense programs that has conservatives fuming.

“I didn’t vote for the side deals, and those are the frustrating things because everybody’s all over the map and what they think the side deals’ number is. There is no factual number,” Rep. Keith Self (R-Texas) argued Wednesday.

Thirteen Republicans on Wednesday joined with Democrats to vote against the rule for a trio of bills, preventing the chamber from debating and voting on the measures — which are unrelated to spending.

The Republicans taking the vote wanted to send a signal to Johnson that they are unhappy with the spending bill and do not want him to work with Democrats to get it passed.

“We’re making a statement that what the deal, as has been announced, that doesn’t secure the border and that doesn’t cut our spending, and that’s gonna be passed apparently under suspension of the rules with predominantly Democrat votes, is unacceptable,” Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.), the newly minted chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, told reporters.

Sen. John Thune (S.D.), the upper chamber’s No. 2 Republican, suggested a stopgap heading into the “March time frame” as a potential option to buy appropriators enough time to conference the legislation, while also noting ramped talks around a foreign aid package.

However, some appropriators are concerned about a stopgap that stretches too far and potentially takes the pressure off lawmakers to wrap up their funding work.

“I wouldn’t take the February deadline off in January,” Rep. Mark Amodei (R-Nev.), a spending cardinal, said, instead pushing for a CR to go through a “week or two” with “no policy riders.”

However, conservatives are still pushing back against another short-term CR and are hoping Johnson does the same.

“CRs just don’t work around this place,” said Rep. Kevin Hern (Okla.), head of the Republican Study Committee.

“I think what we need to do is we need to look at what we need for a period of shutdown, maybe a week or two, and know going in — the reason we’re going to be in this is because we got to finish the appropriation bills for the four and that we set a date, we’re coming out, and that gives the appropriators [a] timeline,” he added.

printer said:

McCarthy is sitting at home with his feet up.....
Lawmakers see short-term stopgap as inevitable to avoid shutdown
An increasing number of lawmakers acknowledged Wednesday that another stopgap funding bill will be needed to avert a government shutdown, the same day a small group of conservatives in the House tanked a procedural vote in a sign of GOP opposition to a new spending deal.

Leaders on both sides have voiced optimism about the chances of Congress being able to approve full-year funding in the days ahead, but many see a stopgap, also known as a continuing resolution (CR), as unavoidable.

“We can’t do it by the 19th, so we will need a short-term CR to move forward,” Rep. Rosa DeLauro (Conn.), top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, said Wednesday, referencing the Jan. 19 deadline for preventing a partial shutdown.

Leaders announced a breakthrough in spending talks over the weekend after settling on a top-line number for fiscal 2024 funding. But negotiators say there is still much work to be done before they can complete their annual funding bills.

Sen. John Kennedy (La.), top Republican on the subcommittee that oversees funding for the Department of Energy and other agencies, said Wednesday that appropriators “can’t do anything” until they receive another set of numbers setting the levels for each of the 12 bills.

“I think everybody’s working hard to come up with those numbers. Nothing’s really easy around here right now,” said Sen. John Boozman (R-Ark.), another appropriator, adding he thinks the “only way” to prevent a shutdown next week is “to have a CR.”

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) previously said he would not approve another short-term CR. But he also appeared not to rule out the option this week if Congress needs more time to finish its funding work.

“I’m not ruling out anything, committing to anything, other than getting these appropriations done,” Johnson said when asked if he is ruling out a continuing resolution. “I’m very optimistic.”

However, Johnson has already taken an avalanche of criticism from his right flank, angered by the recent bipartisan top-line deal that they say is too high.

Johnson touted the deal as having set a $1.59 trillion top line for fiscal 2024 government funding, which is in line with the levels written in the Fiscal Responsibility Act that passed with bipartisan support last year. However, the deal also would allow for billions in additional funding for nondefense programs that has conservatives fuming.

“I didn’t vote for the side deals, and those are the frustrating things because everybody’s all over the map and what they think the side deals’ number is. There is no factual number,” Rep. Keith Self (R-Texas) argued Wednesday.

Thirteen Republicans on Wednesday joined with Democrats to vote against the rule for a trio of bills, preventing the chamber from debating and voting on the measures — which are unrelated to spending.

The Republicans taking the vote wanted to send a signal to Johnson that they are unhappy with the spending bill and do not want him to work with Democrats to get it passed.

“We’re making a statement that what the deal, as has been announced, that doesn’t secure the border and that doesn’t cut our spending, and that’s gonna be passed apparently under suspension of the rules with predominantly Democrat votes, is unacceptable,” Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.), the newly minted chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, told reporters.

Sen. John Thune (S.D.), the upper chamber’s No. 2 Republican, suggested a stopgap heading into the “March time frame” as a potential option to buy appropriators enough time to conference the legislation, while also noting ramped talks around a foreign aid package.

However, some appropriators are concerned about a stopgap that stretches too far and potentially takes the pressure off lawmakers to wrap up their funding work.

“I wouldn’t take the February deadline off in January,” Rep. Mark Amodei (R-Nev.), a spending cardinal, said, instead pushing for a CR to go through a “week or two” with “no policy riders.”

However, conservatives are still pushing back against another short-term CR and are hoping Johnson does the same.

“CRs just don’t work around this place,” said Rep. Kevin Hern (Okla.), head of the Republican Study Committee.

“I think what we need to do is we need to look at what we need for a period of shutdown, maybe a week or two, and know going in — the reason we’re going to be in this is because we got to finish the appropriation bills for the four and that we set a date, we’re coming out, and that gives the appropriators [a] timeline,” he added.

Lawmakers see short-term stopgap as inevitable to avoid shutdown

An increasing number of lawmakers acknowledged Wednesday that another stopgap funding bill will be needed to avert a government shutdown, the same day a small group of conservatives in the House ta…

thehill.com

Click to expand...

Anybody who votes for these idiots is either insane or brainwashed! What a fiasco and when Trump goes down the shit will really hit the fan. The Hunter committee hearings today were a sight to behold and a fiasco, as is the Biden impeachment.

printer said:

McCarthy is sitting at home with his feet up.....
Lawmakers see short-term stopgap as inevitable to avoid shutdown
An increasing number of lawmakers acknowledged Wednesday that another stopgap funding bill will be needed to avert a government shutdown, the same day a small group of conservatives in the House tanked a procedural vote in a sign of GOP opposition to a new spending deal.

Leaders on both sides have voiced optimism about the chances of Congress being able to approve full-year funding in the days ahead, but many see a stopgap, also known as a continuing resolution (CR), as unavoidable.

“We can’t do it by the 19th, so we will need a short-term CR to move forward,” Rep. Rosa DeLauro (Conn.), top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, said Wednesday, referencing the Jan. 19 deadline for preventing a partial shutdown.

Leaders announced a breakthrough in spending talks over the weekend after settling on a top-line number for fiscal 2024 funding. But negotiators say there is still much work to be done before they can complete their annual funding bills.

Sen. John Kennedy (La.), top Republican on the subcommittee that oversees funding for the Department of Energy and other agencies, said Wednesday that appropriators “can’t do anything” until they receive another set of numbers setting the levels for each of the 12 bills.

“I think everybody’s working hard to come up with those numbers. Nothing’s really easy around here right now,” said Sen. John Boozman (R-Ark.), another appropriator, adding he thinks the “only way” to prevent a shutdown next week is “to have a CR.”

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) previously said he would not approve another short-term CR. But he also appeared not to rule out the option this week if Congress needs more time to finish its funding work.

“I’m not ruling out anything, committing to anything, other than getting these appropriations done,” Johnson said when asked if he is ruling out a continuing resolution. “I’m very optimistic.”

However, Johnson has already taken an avalanche of criticism from his right flank, angered by the recent bipartisan top-line deal that they say is too high.

Johnson touted the deal as having set a $1.59 trillion top line for fiscal 2024 government funding, which is in line with the levels written in the Fiscal Responsibility Act that passed with bipartisan support last year. However, the deal also would allow for billions in additional funding for nondefense programs that has conservatives fuming.

“I didn’t vote for the side deals, and those are the frustrating things because everybody’s all over the map and what they think the side deals’ number is. There is no factual number,” Rep. Keith Self (R-Texas) argued Wednesday.

Thirteen Republicans on Wednesday joined with Democrats to vote against the rule for a trio of bills, preventing the chamber from debating and voting on the measures — which are unrelated to spending.

The Republicans taking the vote wanted to send a signal to Johnson that they are unhappy with the spending bill and do not want him to work with Democrats to get it passed.

“We’re making a statement that what the deal, as has been announced, that doesn’t secure the border and that doesn’t cut our spending, and that’s gonna be passed apparently under suspension of the rules with predominantly Democrat votes, is unacceptable,” Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.), the newly minted chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, told reporters.

Sen. John Thune (S.D.), the upper chamber’s No. 2 Republican, suggested a stopgap heading into the “March time frame” as a potential option to buy appropriators enough time to conference the legislation, while also noting ramped talks around a foreign aid package.

However, some appropriators are concerned about a stopgap that stretches too far and potentially takes the pressure off lawmakers to wrap up their funding work.

“I wouldn’t take the February deadline off in January,” Rep. Mark Amodei (R-Nev.), a spending cardinal, said, instead pushing for a CR to go through a “week or two” with “no policy riders.”

However, conservatives are still pushing back against another short-term CR and are hoping Johnson does the same.

“CRs just don’t work around this place,” said Rep. Kevin Hern (Okla.), head of the Republican Study Committee.

“I think what we need to do is we need to look at what we need for a period of shutdown, maybe a week or two, and know going in — the reason we’re going to be in this is because we got to finish the appropriation bills for the four and that we set a date, we’re coming out, and that gives the appropriators [a] timeline,” he added.

Lawmakers see short-term stopgap as inevitable to avoid shutdown

An increasing number of lawmakers acknowledged Wednesday that another stopgap funding bill will be needed to avert a government shutdown, the same day a small group of conservatives in the House ta…

thehill.com

Click to expand...

I wonder if a stopgap will enable the administration to ram home some immediate Ukraine aid. Now is the time to step up aid to the exhausted defenders.

cannabineer said:

I wonder if a stopgap will enable the administration to ram home some immediate Ukraine aid. Now is the time to step up aid to the exhausted defenders.

Click to expand...

It could be Joe is putting the squeeze on them, Ukraine should be alright in a defensive war for a spell, it looks like Europe might come through with aid. They were talking about taking Russian money if push comes to shove, but that talk has largely abated, Joe has options though including seizing Russian money and giving it to Ukraine, ditto for the Europeans, last option though.

The only way the money (arms) will make it to Ukraine is if funding and policy for the border will change. Ukraine is shooting one shell for every one from Russia. Are they OK? Depends on how long you want the war to go on. The losses in Ukraine are basically due to low ammunition and conserving what they have because they do not know when and how much they will get. Russia has learned that bombing civilians does not work and are nor targeting the industrial complex of Ukraine.

printer said:

The only way the money (arms) will make it to Ukraine is if funding and policy for the border will change. Ukraine is shooting one shell for every one from Russia. Are they OK? Depends on how long you want the war to go on. The losses in Ukraine are basically due to low ammunition and conserving what they have because they do not know when and how much they will get. Russia has learned that bombing civilians does not work and are nor targeting the industrial complex of Ukraine.

Click to expand...

I agree, it is a tricky situation with American funding and things are not going as well as I hoped on that front, Europe is concerned and increasingly on a war footing, preparing for anything. It looks like EU funding might come through though, both sides are in a low-cost high availability drone war with the EW ramping up on both sides. As far as I can see this should have ended long ago with the Americans giving them the weapons they need to go after those rail bridges and other deep targets. It would have ended the war and saved lives on both sides. The only rational explanation I can come up with is they want a war of attrition to destroy the Russians Soviet legacy equipment, they used up the munitions already. The elimination of Russia as a military threat to Europe, with the added benefit of crippling their economy and screwing them as Europe goes green and their markets disappear.

Joe: Trump made an incredible political mistake last night

During a Wednesday evening town hall on Fox News, former President Trump continued to brag about terminating Roe v. Wade while in office. The Morning Joe panel discusses Trump's town hall and why his remarks on Roe v. Wade was a gift to the Biden campaign.

Let's talk about another indicted GOP Presidential hopeful....

DIY-HP-LED said:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1745207146583560596

Click to expand...

that was one of the reasons why he was there with council....

Herding cats in a sack. Are we having fun yet?

Conservative calls for Johnson to rip up deal frustrate other Republicans
A late push from hard-line conservatives in the House to get Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to back out of a top-line spending deal with Democrats is frustrating Republicans on both sides of the Capitol.

“That’s pretty nasty. It’s ridiculous,” Rep. Greg Murphy (R-N.C.) said, noting that the same members have continuously complained about spending deals over the last year. “At some point when you have people complain all the time, it’s like crying wolf. It just lacks credibility anymore.”

Rep. Max Miller (R-Ohio) had sharper words for the conservatives pressing to renegotiate the deal: “They’re just feckless people.”

“It’s just easier for them to scream and vote no, because it takes a lot of courage to explain a yes vote and everything that’s inside of it,” Miller said. “If I said I was gonna vote no on any of this stuff, my job would be a lot easier.”

After tanking a procedural vote and holding up floor action Wednesday on unrelated legislation in protest of the deal announced over the weekend, conservatives huddled with Johnson in his office Thursday to convince him to retract his commitment to the top-line deal and push for a new spending agreement with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and the White House.

“I’m doing everything I can to influence the Speaker to ditch the bad deal for the country, which is the Schumer deal, and to commit to cutting spending over last year and securing the border and doing whatever we can to accomplish that,” said Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.), the chair of the House Freedom Caucus.

The bipartisan deal sets top-line spending at $1.59 trillion plus around $69 billion in additional budget tweaks — largely in line with the spending caps included in the debt limit deal then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) struck with President Biden last year that outraged Republicans, leading to McCarthy’s ouster. Johnson has touted some tweaks to that agreement, including accelerating clawbacks of IRS mandatory funding and additional clawbacks of unspent pandemic funds.

Johnson assured reporters Thursday that he has not made any commitments to the conservatives — “so if you hear otherwise, it’s just simply not true” — but the chatter about a new framework is enraging Republicans, who are aiming their fire at the rabble rousers who have been at the center of near-constant chaos in the lower chamber.

“Rank-and-file members who just want to solve the problems that face our country, and who understand that that will most likely be done through incremental progress, are furious with the hard-line tactics,” said one House GOP member who requested anonymity to speak candidly. “They think it’s playing into the Democrats’ hands; they think that it is undermining our ability to get a victory in November; and they think it’s moving the country backwards. People are pissed.”

Rep. Garret Graves (R-La.), a key negotiator of the Fiscal Responsibility Act bill last year that is the basis of the spending deal, said that the Freedom Caucus’s calls to renegotiate the top line has “reaffirmed that they’re not focused upon real savings and real outcomes.”

“This is all theatrics for them. This is the drama caucus,” Graves said.

Graves argued that the continued hardball tactics from those members over the last year — from scuttling spending to ousting McCarthy — have resulted in a prolonged extension of policies approved in spending levels from the last Congress under total Democratic control.

“Who’s the conservative? Nice job, guys,” Graves said.

House appropriators in particular are warning the Speaker against seeking to put forward an alternate deal, saying it will damage his ability to negotiate anything else with Democrats.

“You can’t pull out a deal that was already cut,” said Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.), a top appropriator.

“If you are not going to honor the terms, then then you have a credibility problem,” said Rep. Steve Womack (R-Ark.), another top appropriator — adding that he thinks the calls to renegotiate the deal increase the chances of a shutdown.

As Congress aims to strike a deal to fund the government through the end of the fiscal year, it faces a two-tiered government funding deadline with some programs running out on Jan. 19 and the rest expiring on Feb. 2.

Across the Capitol, Senate Republicans were baffled by the news emerging out of the House’s hard-right faction and their meeting with the Speaker.

“That’s not gonna work,” Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) said bluntly when asked about the news Thursday.

Top GOP members and appropriators said a deal was already in place and that it was too late to change course, especially to mollify Freedom Caucus members who are highly unlikely to back any type of bipartisan bill.

“I assume he’ll do everything he can to get the job done over there, and hopefully he’ll have enough of the Republican caucus working with him who are interested in getting results that they’ll be able to get an outcome, but I don’t know how to predict it at this point,” Sen. John Thune (S.D.), the No. 2 Senate Republican, told reporters.

“I think he’s very sincere and wants to get results, but he has to manage an incredibly divided caucus and I assume at some point they’ll have to get it done in a bipartisan way because I don’t think there are people on our side of the aisle who will vote for anything,” he added.

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), the top GOP appropriator in the upper chamber, added that it would be “extremely difficult” to avoid a shutdown if Johnson reneges from the deal with Schumer.

Part of the push from hard-line conservatives centers on what kind of stopgap funding measure to pursue, as the Senate tees up a short-term continuing resolution (CR).

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), chair of the House Judiciary Committee, is among those advocating for a long-term stopgap that would trigger an automatic, across-the-board 1 percent cut that was written into the Fiscal Responsibility Act debt limit bill last year.

“Do the long-term CR and negotiate on the policy we want to get the border,” Jordan said coming out of the meeting in Johnson’s office Thursday. “That creates the incentive to actually do the work we’re supposed to do.”

The idea with a long-term CR would be to then push for conservative policy riders, such as concerning the border and immigration.

But that, too, is facing pushback from appropriators.

“No appropriator likes a CR,” said Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), an appropriations cardinal.

printer said:

Herding cats in a sack. Are we having fun yet?

Conservative calls for Johnson to rip up deal frustrate other Republicans
A late push from hard-line conservatives in the House to get Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to back out of a top-line spending deal with Democrats is frustrating Republicans on both sides of the Capitol.

“That’s pretty nasty. It’s ridiculous,” Rep. Greg Murphy (R-N.C.) said, noting that the same members have continuously complained about spending deals over the last year. “At some point when you have people complain all the time, it’s like crying wolf. It just lacks credibility anymore.”

Rep. Max Miller (R-Ohio) had sharper words for the conservatives pressing to renegotiate the deal: “They’re just feckless people.”

“It’s just easier for them to scream and vote no, because it takes a lot of courage to explain a yes vote and everything that’s inside of it,” Miller said. “If I said I was gonna vote no on any of this stuff, my job would be a lot easier.”

After tanking a procedural vote and holding up floor action Wednesday on unrelated legislation in protest of the deal announced over the weekend, conservatives huddled with Johnson in his office Thursday to convince him to retract his commitment to the top-line deal and push for a new spending agreement with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and the White House.

“I’m doing everything I can to influence the Speaker to ditch the bad deal for the country, which is the Schumer deal, and to commit to cutting spending over last year and securing the border and doing whatever we can to accomplish that,” said Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.), the chair of the House Freedom Caucus.

The bipartisan deal sets top-line spending at $1.59 trillion plus around $69 billion in additional budget tweaks — largely in line with the spending caps included in the debt limit deal then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) struck with President Biden last year that outraged Republicans, leading to McCarthy’s ouster. Johnson has touted some tweaks to that agreement, including accelerating clawbacks of IRS mandatory funding and additional clawbacks of unspent pandemic funds.

Johnson assured reporters Thursday that he has not made any commitments to the conservatives — “so if you hear otherwise, it’s just simply not true” — but the chatter about a new framework is enraging Republicans, who are aiming their fire at the rabble rousers who have been at the center of near-constant chaos in the lower chamber.

“Rank-and-file members who just want to solve the problems that face our country, and who understand that that will most likely be done through incremental progress, are furious with the hard-line tactics,” said one House GOP member who requested anonymity to speak candidly. “They think it’s playing into the Democrats’ hands; they think that it is undermining our ability to get a victory in November; and they think it’s moving the country backwards. People are pissed.”

Rep. Garret Graves (R-La.), a key negotiator of the Fiscal Responsibility Act bill last year that is the basis of the spending deal, said that the Freedom Caucus’s calls to renegotiate the top line has “reaffirmed that they’re not focused upon real savings and real outcomes.”

“This is all theatrics for them. This is the drama caucus,” Graves said.

Graves argued that the continued hardball tactics from those members over the last year — from scuttling spending to ousting McCarthy — have resulted in a prolonged extension of policies approved in spending levels from the last Congress under total Democratic control.

“Who’s the conservative? Nice job, guys,” Graves said.

House appropriators in particular are warning the Speaker against seeking to put forward an alternate deal, saying it will damage his ability to negotiate anything else with Democrats.

“You can’t pull out a deal that was already cut,” said Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.), a top appropriator.

“If you are not going to honor the terms, then then you have a credibility problem,” said Rep. Steve Womack (R-Ark.), another top appropriator — adding that he thinks the calls to renegotiate the deal increase the chances of a shutdown.

As Congress aims to strike a deal to fund the government through the end of the fiscal year, it faces a two-tiered government funding deadline with some programs running out on Jan. 19 and the rest expiring on Feb. 2.

Across the Capitol, Senate Republicans were baffled by the news emerging out of the House’s hard-right faction and their meeting with the Speaker.

“That’s not gonna work,” Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) said bluntly when asked about the news Thursday.

Top GOP members and appropriators said a deal was already in place and that it was too late to change course, especially to mollify Freedom Caucus members who are highly unlikely to back any type of bipartisan bill.

“I assume he’ll do everything he can to get the job done over there, and hopefully he’ll have enough of the Republican caucus working with him who are interested in getting results that they’ll be able to get an outcome, but I don’t know how to predict it at this point,” Sen. John Thune (S.D.), the No. 2 Senate Republican, told reporters.

“I think he’s very sincere and wants to get results, but he has to manage an incredibly divided caucus and I assume at some point they’ll have to get it done in a bipartisan way because I don’t think there are people on our side of the aisle who will vote for anything,” he added.

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), the top GOP appropriator in the upper chamber, added that it would be “extremely difficult” to avoid a shutdown if Johnson reneges from the deal with Schumer.

Part of the push from hard-line conservatives centers on what kind of stopgap funding measure to pursue, as the Senate tees up a short-term continuing resolution (CR).

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), chair of the House Judiciary Committee, is among those advocating for a long-term stopgap that would trigger an automatic, across-the-board 1 percent cut that was written into the Fiscal Responsibility Act debt limit bill last year.

“Do the long-term CR and negotiate on the policy we want to get the border,” Jordan said coming out of the meeting in Johnson’s office Thursday. “That creates the incentive to actually do the work we’re supposed to do.”

The idea with a long-term CR would be to then push for conservative policy riders, such as concerning the border and immigration.

But that, too, is facing pushback from appropriators.

“No appropriator likes a CR,” said Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), an appropriations cardinal.

Conservative calls for Johnson to rip up deal frustrate other Republicans

A late push from hard-line conservatives in the House to get Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to back out of a top-line spending deal with Democrats is frustrating Republicans on both sides of the Capi…

thehill.com

Click to expand...

They have a one seat majority in the house, and it is an election year and some from more moderate districts have republican Russian hawks freaking out on them. Joe could even offer one or two of them, from vulnerable districts, a plum federal job or ambassadorship, old fashioned dirty politics!