House conservatives slam CR for not cutting spending: No Republican 'campaigned on the status quo'

Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, and other House conservatives criticized House Speaker Johnson's proposed continuing resolution (CR) to avoid a government shutdown, saying on Monday that it simply continues current federal spending and does nothing to reduce it.

"No one campaigned on the status quo," Davidson told reporters. "No one campaigned on sustaining the spending levels or policies that have been implemented by Biden, Schumer and Pelosi and that's what this does until January and February but it really does worse."

Davidson said the legislation spends more than President Biden and former House Speaker McCarthy's debt ceiling deal known as the Fiscal Responsibility Act.

"In the debt ceiling deal that is supposed to have taken effect October 1, there are spending cuts and in the debt ceiling deal, there are work requirements and by attaching the farm bill to this that goes for another year, you avoid implementing what was already agreed to in the debt ceiling deal," he said. "You avoid implementing the cuts that were already in the debt ceiling deal."

According to the House Budget Committee,"if Congress does not pass all 12 appropriations bills by the end of December," the Fiscal Responsibility Act "mandates a 1% budget cut that would apply to defense and non-defense spending."

The farm bill is normally passed to cover a 5-year period. In addition to a one-year farm bill extension which contains food stamp funding, the CR includes a $174,000 payment to a family member of the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein. According to the Congressional Research Service, the current salary for a U.S. senator is $174,000. CBS reported at the time of her death her net worth was high as $69.4 million.

Davidson emphasized that the House GOP majority should be passing "spending cuts" and "policy reforms" instead of continuing the status quo on federal funding. "I'm not voting for it," he said.

Other House conservatives have also pledged to oppose the bill in its current form, including Sen. Bob Good, R-Va., and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga.

"I'll be voting against the bill," Good told reporters.

McCarthy was ousted from his position after putting a 45-day CR on the House floor that received Democrat votes.

When asked if Johnson's job is in jeopardy over the current proposed CR, Good said, "No, not from my standpoint."

Good said he would like to see Johnson bring forth a "different version" of the CR.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, the federal government ran a $67 billion deficit in the month of October alone. The national debt is approaching $34 trillion, according to the latest U.S. Treasury Department data.

Johnson is expected to put the CR up for a House floor vote at some point on Tuesday. The previously passed 45-day CR expires on Friday.