WASHINGTON — Key factions of the House Republican conference reached a tentative agreement Sunday to keep the government funded temporarily and avert a shutdown currently scheduled for the end of this month, pairing it with a conservative border security measure, multiple GOP sources with knowledge told NBC News.
House Republicans released a bill after a tentative agreement between the far-right Freedom Caucus and the center-right Main Street Caucus, the sources said. The deal, which keeps the government funded through Oct. 31 but includes cuts to domestic spending, is expected to pave the way to pass a defense spending bill this week that has been tied up in the standoff between Republican leadership and the far-right.
If the legislation passes the House, it would resolve one internal problem for Speaker Kevin McCarthy while creating a new one. The controversial immigration provisions and reduced spending levels make it all but guaranteed to die in the Democratic-led Senate, meaning it could do more to hasten a shutdown at the end of September than prevent one.
The bill imposes an 8% cut to domestic spending with exceptions for the military and veterans funding.
It includes most of the Secure the Border Act of 2023, a wish list of immigration provisions for GOP hardliners, with the exception of provisions requiring the use of E-Verify for employers to check immigration status. The legislation has been a big priority for Freedom Caucus members. And while it passed the House in May, it has been ignored by the Senate.
Notably, the temporary government funding legislation doesn’t mention Ukraine aid nor disaster relief, two priorities for the White House and many lawmakers in both parties.
Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., the top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, trashed the bill as “extreme” in a statement, accusing House Republicans of attempting to “cut funding to the National Institutes of Health including funding for cancer research, defund the police, and decrease resources to important allies like Ukraine and Israel,” instead of “working on bipartisan solution[s] that could be enacted.”
She added that “it is time to end the charade and to get to work.”
The lawmakers named on the bill are Reps. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., Scott Perry, R-Pa., Stephanie Bice, R-Okla., Chip Roy, R-Texas, and Kelly Armstrong, R-N.D.
House Republicans, who have a slim majority, held a call Sunday evening at 8 p.m. ET to discuss the measure.
It’s unclear if the bill will get enough votes to pass the House. Without Democratic support, McCarthy can afford no more than four defections. Rep. Dan Bishop, R-N.C., quickly came out against it.
“No CR. Pass the damn approps bills. Roll back the crazy bureaucracy to pre-COVID levels. Now,” Bishop said on social media.
Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, said Sunday evening after the release of the bill: “It’s crystal clear a Gov’t shutdown is coming. I represent 66% of the Texas-Mexico border — a hollow Continuing Resolution built to win a messaging battle does nothing to keep America safe.”
Earlier in the day, McCarthy urged his colleagues to avert a shutdown during an appearance on Fox News.
“A shutdown would only give strength to the Democrats,” McCarthy said. “It would give the power to Biden. It wouldn’t pay our troops. It wouldn’t pay our border agents. More people would be coming across. I actually want to achieve something.”
Perry, the Freedom Caucus chair, said in a statement Sunday night: “HFC Members have worked over the weekend with the Main Street Caucus on a path forward to fund the government and secure America’s border. We now have a framework for our colleagues across the House Republican Conference.”