House and Senate Republicans Clash Over Shutdown Threats

Senate Republican leadership is at odds with their House counterparts on how hard conservative priorities on spending and threats of a shutdown should be pushed.

Speaking this week, Republican Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and Mitt Romney of Utah — both close to the ears of their conference heads — sounded off on combative rhetoric from some House hardliners.

“I think it’s better to figure this out before the end of the fiscal year and rather than engage in that sort of self-destructive behavior. … Nobody wants to shut down,” Cornyn told reporters.

Romney made similar comments to The Hill, asking House conservatives, “What comes after you shut down the government?”

“The answer has always been, ‘Well, we’ll reopen it again,’ ” Romney said. “And of course, we reopen it at great expense, great inconvenience for the American people, and have accomplished nothing other than making a big noise.”

The clock is running out as the Sept. 30 spending deadline nears. Leaders on both sides have signaled that a temporary continuing resolution, known as a stopgap, is likely imminent.

And while some Freedom Caucus members want to see entitlements cuts and increases to southern border security in the stopgap, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has indicated that he is not as committed.

Last month, the California Republican appeared to have a productive meeting with Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., on the prospects of passing a concession-less stopgap bill.

Republican Congressman Byron Donalds of Florida told Newsmax‘s “Eric Bolling The Balance” that he didn’t care about McCarthy’s meeting. He’s a “no” on any spending legislation without border security.

“I will add that there is a significant amount of House Republicans who are also ‘no,’ ” Donalds revealed Thursday night.

House committees have OK’d 10 of the 12 annual funding bills thus far. However, the floor has approved just one of the 10 — funding for military projects and veterans’ health care.

The next measure set to be voted on by the full floor is agricultural funding, which will likely occur soon. Still, the prospects of hitting all 12 before the end of the month are slim.