House Republican Hammers His Own Party Over Shutdown: ‘We Should Be Passing Separate Funding Bills’
Screenshot via CSPAN
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) jabbed his fellow Republicans on Wednesday over the ongoing government shutdown and warned that the “swamp” will use it to “get funding for things nobody wants.”
Massie, who has long been a thorn in the side of GOP House leadership, posted on X and wrote, “Remember, the swamp loves the threat of a shutdown. By withholding funding for things Americans want, they can get funding for things nobody wants.”
He also took a jab at his own party for passing sweeping funding bills: “We should be passing separate funding bills, not one giant funding bill.”
“Reposting this relevant thread from three years ago,” he added. The lengthy thread from August 2022 reads, “First, we have to abandon the absurd notion that we should pass only one bill to fund everything (often called an omnibus). Our rules call for passing 12 separate bills. Fund roads, military, NASA, national parks, etc. with separate bills! Do not let Biden take them hostage.” He continued:
Spending bills originate in the House. If we pass 12 separate bills and send them to the Senate, technically we shouldn’t be blamed for shutting down the government if the Senate and President fail to act on them. But there’s a chance the process breaks down, so we could:
On day 1 of our majority, 9 months before spending bills are due, pass a continuing resolution that funds the entire government at 95% of current levels IF the 12 bills don’t pass. Remind everyone every day government won’t shut down, because the House already passed a backstop.
This strategy allows us to use our power of the purse to defund several of Biden’s harmful policies while insulating my more vulnerable Republican colleagues from the media’s giddy hope of blaming the GOP for a shutdown.
I realize the fallback position of funding discretionary government at 95% (btw, Social Security and Medicare would NOT be affected) doesn’t sound very conservative, but the swamp will hate it, and avoiding that outcome will be strong incentive to pass the 12 separate bills.
Massie has long been critical of omnibus spending bills, which allow for members to add their pork projects at will in order to secure their votes. He also opposed Trump’s so-called “Big Beautiful Bill,” arguing it would add to the debt. “The Big Beautiful Bill will add $20 trillion of federal debt over 10 years, and that’s according to the authors of it. But there’s another huge problem: it will increase the price of the $36 trillion of debt we already have, as bond buyers realize we aren’t fiscally responsible,” Massie fumed in May.
