Virginia Congressman Ben Cline says the House is quickly approaching a 'fiscal cliff'

"Unfortunately, the days are growing short, and we have only done half of our appropriations bills," Cline said.

Published: October 12, 2023 6:38pm

Prominent member of the House Budget Committee Ben Cline, R-Va., says that the House is headed towards a "fiscal cliff" regarding government funding.

"Unfortunately, the days are growing short, and we have only done half of our appropriations bills," Cline said on the Thursday edition of the "Just the News, No Noise" TV show. "And not to mention, the Senate hasn't done any of their appropriations bills. So we are going to come up on this November 17 fiscal cliff pretty quickly and ... every minute counts."

Earlier this month, Congress passed a continual resolution that would fund the government through Nov. 17, avoiding a government shutdown.

Cline said that in order for the House to get to work, they have to have a speaker, which they currently don't have.

"We should be passing a labor HHS education spending bill that defunds the woke and weaponized Department of Education, and other departments that have been mismanaged throughout the years," he stated. "But we are solely focused on the speakership right now. We can't schedule anything for the floor."

After eight GOP House members voted to oust former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, the House has been working to elect a new speaker.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., is the official nominee for speaker from the Republican party, but does not appear to have enough votes to win the office, as several Republicans have pledged to vote for House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio.

It is still unclear at this time when the House floor vote for speaker will take place. GOP leaders decided not to hold the vote on Wednesday.