Conservative Group Urges GOP to Oppose Spending Package, Which Would Cause a Government Shutdown

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The conservative advocacy group Heritage Action, the sister organization of the Heritage Foundation, has urged Republican lawmakers to oppose a $1.5 trillion government spending bill, saying that to approve it would fund progressive priorities it is staunchly against.

Lawmakers have until March 11 to pass a government funding bill or risk a shutdown.

“Members and staff will have had less than 12 hours to read 2,741 pages and account for $1.5 trillion in spending,” the organization said in a release obtained first by The Hill. “To make matters worse, the divided question before the House would require that both portions of the question pass, thereby ensuring a vote of support for security related funding is a vote in support of the omnibus.”

“Members should reject this false choice and this blatant political maneuvering that will usher in historic levels of discretionary spending and Leftist policies,” the organization added.

The release comes after Congress reached a bipartisan deal on the spending package, which would included $42 billion in defense spending, $14 billion in emergency funding to assist Ukraine in its going war with Russia, and more than $15 billion in COVID-19 supplemental funding.

The spending package also includes $280 million for 32,800 new housing vouchers, funding for the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy to support climate investments in such areas as wind and solar power, $17 billion for Title I-A grants to local educational agencies, and a $400 increase in the maximum Pell Grant award.

Last year, Heritage Action urged Republicans to vote against the bipartisan $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill, charging that to do so would allow Democrats to successfully pass their then-$3.5 trillion spending package.

“Not only is the deal bad policy, but it is also a bad process, as it is a prerequisite to passing the rest of President [Joe] Biden’s catastrophic agenda through a Democrat-only reconciliation package,” the group said in a “key vote” alert to lawmakers in September 2021.

“Claims that this expansion of government is fully paid for are misleading at best, as the package relies on a series of dubious and inappropriate “pay-for” budget gimmicks to cover the costs,” the group adds, saying that “Congress has been spending money at an unsustainable pace.”

“Democrats desperately want to pour more than an additional $4 trillion into an economy facing rising inflation fueled by excess government spending,” the group concludes. “Republicans should not enable this reckless spending spree that will devalue the paychecks of working Americans and should start by voting against this legislation.”