The largest Republican caucus in the House announced Thursday that it opposes President Trump’s deal with Democrats tying a three-month government-funding extension to a Hurricane Harvey disaster relief bill.
Rep. Mark Walker (R-N.C.), chairman of the conservative Republican Study Committee, called the deal irresponsible in a letter to Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.).
“While some have advocated for a ‘clean’ debt limit increase, this would simply increase the borrowing authority of the government while irresponsibly ignoring the urgency of reforms,” Walker wrote.
Conservatives have long argued that increases to the debt limit, which are needed to stop the U.S. government from defaulting on its debt, should only be passed alongside spending reforms.
{mosads}Walker listed 19 reforms in his letter to either address the debt or “begin draining the swamp” through regulatory reform or changes to the debt-ceiling system.
Trump surprised Republicans Wednesday by agreeing to a Democratic demand for a three-month debt-limit extension, which Democrats hope to use to force a vote on some of former President Obama’s immigration efforts, such as the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which protected children who had been brought into the country illegally from deportation.
Congressional Republican leadership wanted a longer lift in order to avoid the politically unpalatable issue. Conservatives had voiced their dismay at the plan to tie a “clean” debt ceiling to relief efforts for Hurricane Harvey, which would have forced an uncomfortable choice to either vote against relief or for a clean debt increase.
The Republican Study Committee has more than 150 members.