House conservatives block debate on three bills amid frustrations over budget negotiations

A baker's dozen House conservatives on Wednesday voted with Democrats to block debate on three bills amid discontent with Republican leadership over budget negotiations.

The Republican defections on the procedural votes came as conservative members of the House Freedom Caucus have voiced frustrations with the proposed budget deal that House Speaker Mike Johnson announced on Sunday, Politico reported.

Under the deal, Congress would allocate $1.590 trillion to fund the government through the end of September, which marks the end of the 2024 fiscal year. The Freedom Caucus, however, has insisted the plan would actually cost $1.658 trillion and derided the agreement as a "total failure."

The plan notably ignores President Joe Biden's request for $106 billion to address border security and provide aid to Israel, Ukraine, and other nations amid mounting international tensions. The exclusion of the funding package has further led members of the Freedom Caucus to suggest that government spending will exceed proposed totals by billions more.

"They did a series of side deals, which we have not even been told what they are, we're led to believe that they're tens and tens of billions of dollars. But when we get to the bottom of it, the actual spending level in this is actually about $100 billion more than they said say in their press release," Arizona GOP Rep. Andy Biggs told Just the News this week.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter.