Republicans demand spending freeze until next Congress

A Republican bloc in the House of Representatives is calling for a freeze on federal spending until after the midterm elections and the swearing in of the next Congress.

In a letter to House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, the House Freedom Caucus, a collection of the GOP's more conservative members, advised that Congress maintain its current funding levels through a continuing resolution rather than allow Democrats to appropriate more funds for political purposes, The Hill reported.

“The American People literally cannot afford another Democrat-led spending measure that would exacerbate inflation and continue to fund the very agencies waging war on our freedoms,” the letter read.

President Joe Biden on Tuesday signed the Inflation Reduction Act, a mammoth $740 billion spending package that includes tax and climate provisions critical to the Biden legislative agenda. Many Republicans fear the bill will have the opposite effect of its nominal goal. Inflation stood at an 8.5% annualized rate as of July.

The caucus went on to advise cutting funds to Democratic political projects and to instead devote resources to border security and energy independence initiatives.

“Republicans must use every opportunity at our disposal — especially through the constitutional power of the purse — to fight for the freedoms of the American People,” they wrote. “At a minimum, we should not fund government policies so brazenly and openly at odds with the exercise of those freedoms to the undeniable detriment of the American People.”