Expensive labor programs cause the GOP to push for spending cuts – Farm Bill is on the chopping block
Tony Romm and Marianna Sotomayor 4-30 {Tony Romm is the economic policy and accountability reporter at The Washington Post. Marianna Sotomayor covers the House of Representatives, primarily focusing on Democratic and Republican leadership, for The Washington Post. Sotomayor joined The Post in 2021 from NBC News.} - ("With debt bill adopted, far-right House Republicans ready for fiscal war," Washington Post, published 4-30-2023, accessed 6-28-2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/04/30/gop-debt-limit-fiscal-cuts/)//marlborough-wr/
The bears striking resemblance to the blueprint that far-right lawmakers unveiled in March, as they laid out the conditions in which they might support a debt increase — something many conservatives had never done in the past. Appearing at a , Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.), the leader of the House Freedom Caucus, pledged to “shrink” Washington as rank-and-file far-right lawmakers swiped at “woke” federal spending.
“Truth be told, the preference was not to raise it at all and pay down the debts we currently have, so we didn’t need to raise it,” Perry said in an interview after the bill passed, noting that in conversation with GOP leadership, the caucus settled on the idea that “upfront dollar savings needed to be maximized.”
The House measure would roll back federal spending to levels adopted in 2022, potentially a roughly $131 billion cut, while capping the growth of agencies’ future budgets at 1 percent. Republicans already had promised to target reductions at health care, education, science, research and labor programs, which the Biden administration has warned would delay airline flights, slow down Social Security checks, and leave millions of low-income families without child care and housing aid.
Some in the caucus initially signaled they even deeper spending cuts: Joining Perry onstage last month, Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) at one point hinted at reverting spending to the levels adopted in 2019, which could amount to nearly $200 billion in cuts, largely from domestic initiatives.
The caucus also secured from McCarthy a vast policy agenda: , an end to Biden’s student debt cancellation plan, new powers for Congress to overturn federal regulations, an expansion of oil and gas drilling and a revocation of funds to help Washington pursue tax cheats.
Behind the scenes, though, some House Freedom Caucus still expressed reservations regarding McCarthy’s approach — and pushed the House speaker to go further. Lawmakers including Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) called publicly for tougher, longer work requirements for the recipients of food stamps and Medicaid. Gaetz did not respond to repeated requests for comment.