FIRST ON FOX: A group of conservative lawmakers in the House and Senate is warning Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., against agreeing to restrict the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in a spending bill as the government shutdown deadline of March 14 inches closer.
The sometimes-resistant batch of Republicans is also committing to backing a clean stopgap bill for the rest of the fiscal year to avoid a shutdown, which they’ve opposed in the past.
“[W]e are deeply concerned about recent reports of Democrats’ demands for a government funding agreement that would perpetuate the unsustainable status quo of wasteful spending,” Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., and House Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris, R-Md., joined by several others, wrote to the congressional leaders.
The group of signers included several fiscal hawks in the House and Senate, many of whom have opposed stopgap spending bills on principle, preferring full-year appropriations bills.
“Any attempt to use government funding legislation to dilute the President’s constitutional authority to save taxpayer dollars must be rejected outright,” the lawmakers wrote.
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In this circumstance, the group of Congressional conservatives said they’re willing to back a “clean” continuing resolution, or short-term spending bill, that lasts the rest of the year, for the sake of avoiding a government shutdown.
But they also made it very clear to Johnson and Thune: Don’t let Democrats restrict DOGE in the spending bill.
The correspondence was co-signed by 19 other Republicans: Sens. Mike Lee, R-Utah, Ron Johnson, R-Wis., Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., Ted Budd, R-N.C., and Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, and Reps. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., Ralph Norman, R-S.C., Barry Moore, R-Ala., Clay Higgins, R-La., Andrew Clyde, R-Ga., Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., Brandon Gill, R-Texas, Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., Sheri Biggs, R-S.C., and Mark Harris, R-N.C.
Scott is the new chairman of the Republican Senate Steering Committee, a group of conservatives in the upper chamber that works to influence policy and priorities in their conference.
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READ THE LETTER – APP USERS, CLICK HERE:
According to the sometimes rebellious group of Republicans, they “stand ready” to work with both House and Senate leadership to keep the government open. But, they said, “we will not support a government funding package that would be weaponized against President Trump at the very moment he is seeking to make good on the promises he made to the American people.”
Johnson’s office referred Fox News Digital to a recent appearance by the speaker on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures,” where he said, “Heading up to the March 14 deadline, we’ll have to probably pass a clean CR instead of separate [appropriations] bills. Why? Because the Democrats in Congress were trying to demand that as a condition of appropriations, that we would somehow tie the hands of the president, limit his authority, you know, put Elon Musk in a corner and take him off of his mission.”
“We’re not doing that. That’s a nonstarter, and Democrats know that, so I hope they’ll be reasonable,” he said.
Thune’s office declined to comment to Fox News Digital.
Last month, President Donald Trump sounded off on the shutdown deadline on Truth Social. “As usual, Sleepy Joe Biden left us a total MESS. The Budget from last YEAR is still not done. We are working very hard with the House and Senate to pass a clean, temporary government funding Bill (‘CR’) to the end of September. Let’s get it done!” he wrote.
The House Freedom Caucus has at times weaponized the House’s razor-thin majority to push for more conservative positions in negotiations and legislative matters. In the Senate, members of the more covert Steering Committee have also banded together in the past against actions by GOP leadership that they didn’t agree with.
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The deadline for a partial government shutdown is March 14, and Republicans and Democrats have yet to come to an agreement on a spending measure to avoid such a fate.
As Trump and billionaire Elon Musk’s DOGE has aggressively tackled perceived waste and bloat in the federal government, Democrats have expressed outrage at widespread spending cuts and federal worker layoffs.
And now, with some leverage in the shutdown discussions, Democrats in Congress are demanding assurance that Trump spends the money as Congress has appropriated it, shielding it from DOGE.
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Sources familiar with previously told Fox News this could take form in a specific bill provision hamstringing DOGE.
In order to pass a spending bill to avoid a partial shutdown, Republicans will need some level of Democratic support. Sixty votes are needed in the Senate, meaning at least seven Democrats will need to cross the aisle, provided that all Republicans also support it. Only a majority is needed in the House, but full Republican support of any bill is not guaranteed.
