White House threatens to veto two GOP funding bills

The White House on Friday said President Biden would veto a pair of funding bills presented by House Republicans as the conference looks for a way to fund the government and avert a shutdown amid its own divisions.

The Office of Management and Budget issued two statements on appropriations bills for the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs, as well as for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

In both cases, the White House argued the bills are a violation of the spending agreement struck by President Biden and Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) in May as part of a deal to raise the debt ceiling and avoid a government default.

“House Republicans had an opportunity to engage in a productive, bipartisan appropriations process, but instead, with less than two weeks before the end of the fiscal year, are wasting time with partisan bills that cut discretionary spending to levels well below the [Fiscal Responsibility Act] agreement and endanger critical services for the American people,” the White House said.

The bills are unlikely to even make it to the president’s desk given the Democratic-controlled Senate, and it’s unclear if they will even make it out of the House.

Republicans in the House have been embroiled in chaos this week as they struggle to pass spending bills and avoid a government shutdown at the end of the month.

McCarthy was forced to punt a procedural vote on a GOP-only stopgap plan and found sustained opposition even after proposing adjustments. He watched a Pentagon spending bill go down on a procedural vote — submarined by his own members — twice in three days.

Now, McCarthy plans to bring up several full-year appropriations bills for fiscal 2024 in the coming days — capitulating to the demands of dug-in conservatives.