‘This is how Washington ‘works’: Chip Roy calls out swampy budget shenanigans

The government shutdown theater Christmas special has added some last-minute suspense to the script, and that doesn’t bode well for the American taxpayer or the future of the southern border wall.

Instead of simply extending the government shutdown deadline by one week, Congress is poised to move it to the Friday before Christmas. The House Appropriations Committee filed the resolution yesterday afternoon, and both chambers are expected to pass it by the end of this week. This is in addition to the expected delay due to the memorial services for former President George H.W. Bush.

If this looks to you like congressional leadership hiding behind a funeral for an extra week so they can hide behind the birth of Jesus Christ when it comes time to pass a budget deal that’s probably not going to be popular with the conservative base, your vision is just fine. Adding that extra week is going to put extra pressure on conservative members to cave on wall funding and other conservative priorities so that everyone can get home before Christmas. Nobody wants to deal with “shutdown” negotiations over the holiday.

“Extending the Continuing Resolution funding of the government from this Friday for two weeks, until just before Christmas week, removes much of the leverage that the GOP-controlled House has in these budget negotiations,” House Freedom Caucus member Andy Harris, R-Md., explained in a statement to Blaze Media.

“There are many important spending and policy changes that need to be included in any final budget deal,” Harris continued, “especially adequate funding for border security — including new border wall and barrier funding where necessary.”

“This is how Washington ‘works.’ This is what needs to change,” tweeted incoming conservative GOP House member Chip Roy on Monday. “The GOP had an opportunity in remaining 8 weeks after election to demonstrate a willingness to fight for that which they say they wish to fight for... but have largely abandoned the field.”

Currently, the two-week deadline extension is expected to pass both the House and the Senate before the end of this week.

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