Conservative groups deliver last-minute warning to GOP on spending bill

Conservative groups are applying last-minute pressure for House Republicans to oppose a plan backed by Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) to avert a government shutdown this week.

{mosads}Club for Growth, Heritage Action for America and FreedomWorks are all pressing conservative members to vote down the GOP’s bill to fund the government through Dec. 9. All three influential groups will “key vote” the legislation, holding “yes” votes against lawmakers in their annual scorecards.  

The spending bill, which pushes most budget deal-making into the lame-duck session of Congress, was blasted as a “dereliction of duty on behalf of Congress,” by the Club for Growth. Heritage said the bill, which was crafted by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) last week, “falls far short of conservative expectations.”

The Senate cleared the funding bill Wednesday with the help of a last-minute compromise by Ryan and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) the night before to secure Democratic votes. The House is expected to vote on the stopgap spending bill late Wednesday.

Democrats in both chambers agreed to support the government spending bill after Ryan and Pelosi announced Wednesday they would agree to put money for Flint, Mich.’s lead contamination crisis in a separate water resources bill.

Heritage Action is also urging conservatives to oppose the effort to put Flint funding into the water bill. The amendment, which is offered by two Michigan lawmakers of opposite parties, will get a vote later Wednesday.

The full bill, the Water Resources and Development Act, is expected to pass the House on Wednesday evening, just ahead of the spending bill.

Heritage Action blasted the $170 million in new funding for Flint, where people have been unable to drink water from their faucets since 2014.

“Members of Congress should oppose this amendment because it is fiscally irresponsible, sets a terrible precedent for future emergency spending, and sets up a conference agreement that will most likely be even worse,” the group wrote in a statement Wednesday.