2023 – Page 262 – Texas Weekly Online

GOP lawmaker highlights lingering divides: ‘It’s the conference against the conference’

A freshman member of the House Freedom Caucus is calling for a sit-down between GOP hardliners and Republican lawmakers who are leading talks on government spending. It comes after some of those same hardliners banded together to tank a procedural vote on the spending bill dealing with the Departments of Justice and Commerce last week. Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., said the discord was not a conventional back-and-forth between leadership and rebels, but rather two starkly divided groups of House Republicans. “What I think is the real fight, is not between the conference and [Speaker] Mike Johnson. It’s the conference against the conference,” Burlison, who did not vote to sink the bill but voted against the House GOP’s government funding extension last week, told Fox News Digital on Friday. JOHNSON’S FIRST WEEKS AS SPEAKER MARKED BY GOP INFIGHTING — AND SOME VICTORIES “There is a vast chasm between the mentality of many of the appropriators, who seem to have no appetite for making significant cuts, and folks like us in the Freedom Caucus.” Lawmakers on the House Appropriations Committee are tasked with cobbling together the 12 spending bills needed to fund the federal government in the next fiscal year. HOUSE PASSES BILL TO AVERT GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN, SPEAKER JOHNSON NOTCHES FIRST BIG LEGISLATIVE WIN GOP hardliners like Burlison have accused those Republicans in charge of spending of trying to exceed the topline numbers set by House Republicans’ Limit, Save, Grow Act. Conservatives have called for the House to adhere to those numbers despite that bill being dead on arrival in the Senate. Instead, the Senate is writing its appropriations to the topline in President Biden and ex-Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s debt limit deal, the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA). There’s roughly a $120 billion difference between the two maximum levels. “Whether they just don’t recognize the serious financial burdens that we’re at, or they just don’t want to take the responsibility of being the bad guy and making the cuts to their own appropriations, I don’t know what it is, but something has to change,” Burlison said of appropriators. SPEAKER JOHNSON ROLLS OUT PLAN TO AVOID GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN, PREVENT ‘SPENDING MONSTROSITY’ “After McCarthy was vacated, the appropriators decided on their own, that they were going to appropriate to FRA levels. Without anyone in conference having a discussion about it, the appropriators went rogue… that’s what’s angering a lot of people, a lot of conservatives, is the lack of respect to the rest of the conference.” Burlison called for a meeting between the Republican appropriators and the Freedom Caucus, a request he said had not yet been honored. Fox News Digital reached out to the House Appropriations Committee but did not immediately hear back. Tensions between the House lawmakers in charge of government funding and the GOP’s right flank have grown steadily during the federal spending fight. That tension flared just last month during the race for House speaker, when a significant number of Republicans on the Appropriations Committee became one of the staunchest blocs of opposition against then-candidate Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio.

GOP lawmaker to introduce bill to prevent International Monetary Fund from giving cash to adversaries

A Florida Republican lawmaker is introducing a bill to bring congressional authority over the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and prevent the body from giving cash to American adversaries. Rep. Scott Franklin, R-Fla., is expected to introduce the IMF Accountability Act on Tuesday, which aims to give Congress more authority over how the body allocates special drawing rights (SDRs) and lends money. The bill would “prohibit representatives of the United States from voting at the International Monetary Fund for any Special Drawing Rights allocations, quota increases, or policy modifications that would benefit certain countries, and for other purposes.” Franklin’s bill aims to prevent the IMF from giving funds to American adversaries like China, Iran, North Korea, and others. XI TELLS BIDEN TAIWAN IS ‘MOST POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS ISSUE’ BETWEEN US, CHINA “You don’t give taxpayer dollars to your enemies – that’s just commonsense,” Franklin said. “Unfortunately, the Biden Administration has allowed the transfer of billions of dollars from the IMF, funded in large part by the U.S., to our adversaries like China, Russia, Iran and North Korea.” “These funds are used to help them meet their political goals and strengthen their economies,” Franklin said. “This projects weakness on the world stage and should never be allowed to happen. Our bill will strengthen Congressional oversight over these decisions and prevents American taxpayer dollars from ending up in the hands of the world’s worst actors.” Several Republican lawmakers are co-sponsoring Franklin’s bill, including fellow Florida GOP Rep. Gus Billirakis. “The Biden Administration’s appeasement approach when dealing with our adversaries on the international stage has been a complete and utter failure that has only emboldened these rogue regimes,” Billirakis told Fox News Digital. “We must regain our position of strength by embracing an America-first approach that draws a line in the sand and clearly prohibits the Biden Administration from further rewarding these bad actors who seek to do us harm and cause global instability.” Fellow co-sponsor Rep. Lance Gooden, R-Texas, said he “fully supports the IMF Accountability Act, a critical measure to ensure U.S. resources are not aiding adversaries.” “This bill rightly returns oversight to Congress, safeguarding our nation’s investments from supporting regimes that oppose our values and threaten global stability,” Gooden continued. Fellow Florida Republican Sen. Rick Scott is leading the Senate companion bill, joined by Texas GOP Sen. Ted Cruz. “Hostile actors and rogue regimes use IMF Special Drawing Rights to bolster their economies and reserves. This ability directly undermines American efforts to hold such regimes accountable through sanctions, and therefore the safety and security of Americans,” Cruz said. “It is long past time for the United States to counter these tactics.” “As Iran-backed Hamas holds hundreds of hostages in Gaza, including Americans, and continues attacks against Israel, the United States must act,” added Scott. “We must send a clear message to these terror sponsors and evil regimes across the world: the free ride is over, you are cut off. My bill, the IMF Accountability Act, will prohibit U.S. representatives to the IMF from supporting the world’s tyrannical regimes and benefiting from the economic strength of America and our partners and allies.” “I thank Congressman Franklin for leading the charge in the House and urge the Senate to immediately pass this crucial and timely legislation,” he added. SDRs were created by the IMF to bolster member countries’ official reserves and are distributed based on the country’s individual IMF quota. Member countries who receive SDRs can exchange them for U.S. dollars or other member countries’ currencies. The U.S. is a major backer to the IMF. “The International Monetary Fund (IMF) works to achieve sustainable growth and prosperity for all of its 190 member countries,” the IMF website reads. “It does so by supporting economic policies that promote financial stability and monetary cooperation, which are essential to increase productivity, job creation, and economic well-being. The IMF is governed by and accountable to its member countries.” “The IMF has three critical missions: furthering international monetary cooperation, encouraging the expansion of trade and economic growth, and discouraging policies that would harm prosperity,” it continues. “To fulfill these missions, IMF member countries work collaboratively with each other and with other international bodies.” Fox News Digital reached out to the IMF and the White House for comment.