He's been out of Congress for nearly half a year, but the shadow of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., still hangs large over the House of Representatives as lawmakers prepare for another intense battle for government financing.
Last year, McCarthy agreed to suspend the U.S. debt limit through January 2025 in exchange for federal spending caps for the next two fiscal years, a deal he struck with President Biden called the Fiscal Responsibility Act. Under the terms, discretionary government funding can only grow by 1% in the 2025 budget year.
House appropriators are now grappling with how to navigate that cap without severely impacting Homeland Security and Defense spending. Fiscal conservatives want negotiators to stick to the legal ceiling, which is roughly $1.606 trillion. Defense hawks, meanwhile, worry about the implications of a meager increase and worry that it could amount to a cut in national security, once inflation is taken into account.
“That was a deal that McCarthy made, right? He's not here anymore. But our hands may still be tied legally,” one Republican lawmaker told Fox News Digital.
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Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy may have left Congress, but his deal with President Biden still plays a decisive role in the latest talks over government financing. (Photo by Aaron Schwartz/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
“I understand what FRA's intent was, but… the limits as written effectively prevent us from keeping pace with China. So whatever is needed between the leadership, the Senate and the president to give us a little more room to maneuver on I think the allocations between the federal agencies and the twelve bills are necessary.”
Republican Study Committee Chairman Kevin Hern, R-Okla., conceded that the caps “certainly” limited negotiators, but urged them to work toward them as written.
'Honestly, I'm having a hard time figuring out why it's so difficult for us to nail down the numbers. I mean, a two-year limit has been agreed. You know, $1.606 trillion is the number, but it's like everyone's having a hard time figuring out what it really is,” Hern said.
He noted that the government's funding level for the 2024 fiscal year was “a little bit higher” than the agreed upon $1.59 trillion, thanks to “some side deals that we all figured out after the fact.”
“But this cap is $1,606, and there are no backroom cigar smoke-filled chamber deals. So we'll see where my colleague Congressman Cole comes up with the appropriations bill,” Hern said.
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House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole said the Fiscal Responsibility Act is “the law” when asked if it was restricting him. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
When asked if he felt limited by the FRA, House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okla., told Fox News Digital: “I mean, that's the law, so we're going to compare it to what the law tells us to notice.”
Rep. Appropriations Committee member Jake Ellzey, R-Texas, similarly said: “We're doing the best we can, it's the law of the land. So do what you can with what you have – if frogs had wings, they would be much more successful if they didn't touch their backsides when they jump.”
He also suggested that FRA would create certain hurdles. “Based on the FRA, most of those bills will be eliminated, except those for Defense and Interior. And of course, even with the increase for those two, it's a net decrease because of inflation, so real dollars are still being cut. It doesn't matter what spending bill you're talking about,” Ellzey said.
“Chairman Cole has already made some good, hard, strategic decisions … so we have a clear picture of where we're going, and we're going to be much more aggressive about getting those bills done on time this year.”
Republican Party leaders in the House of Representatives are eyeing an ambitious plan to pass all 12 individual spending bills that fund the U.S. government well before the September 30 deadline at the end of the budget year.
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Rep. Jake Ellzey admitted that the appropriators were somewhat limited, but expressed confidence in Rep.'s leadership. Tom Cole. (Getty Images)
Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., outlined a legislative calendar that would ensure passage before Congress begins a monthlong recess in August during a closed-door House GOP conference earlier this week, a source familiar with was with his comments to Fox News Digital.
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Last year's battle over government funding was marked by chaos and disagreement within the GOP, as members on the right of the conference pushed leaders to force a government shutdown in exchange for deeper cuts, while other Republicans sounded the alarm about the economic and political consequences of a government crisis. would have had closure.
The fight over funding for the government in the 2024 fiscal year was one of the factors that led to McCarthy's historic ouster last October.
Fox News Digital reached out to a representative for the former speaker for comment.
