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group of House conservatives is promising to oppose and stymie the legislative priorities of any Republican senator who votes in favor of the $1.7 trillion omnibus spending bill this week.
he warning shot, delivered via a letter from 13 conservatives Monday night, comes amid rising tensions between Republicans in the House and Senate. In just two weeks, Republicans will control the U.S. House of Representatives, yet passage of the spending bill would severely curtail their efforts to conduct meaningful oversight and hold the Biden administration accountable.
“Senate Republicans have the 41 votes necessary to stop this and should do so now and show the Americans who elected you that they weren’t wrong in doing so,” the lawmakers wrote. “The American people did not elect us—any of us—to continue the status quo in Washington, as this bill will undoubtably do.”
The letter cites several policy areas where House Republicans want to use the “power of the purse” as leverage with the Biden administration. But if at least 10 Republican senators join with Democrats to approve the omnibus spending bill, that leverage evaporates.
The spending bill has the support of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., as well as Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.
