Several prominent Republican lawmakers are publicly criticizing Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky for his willingness to work on a year-end omnibus spending deal with Democrats.
Among those who have publicly spoken out against McConnell are House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy of California and Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia.
On Tuesday, McConnell told reporters that a deal on an omnibus spending package was “very close” to being complete and set a deadline of December 22. A spending bill would avert a closure of the federal government, but Democrats and Republicans have haggled over a final agreement on defense and domestic spending.
“If a truly bipartisan full-year bill without poison pills is ready for final Senate passage by late next week, then I’ll support it—for our armed forces particularly,” McConnell said on the Senate floor Wednesday. “Otherwise, we’ll be passing a short-term continuing resolution into the new year.”
Photos by Anna Moneymaker/Drew Angerer/Getty Images
Though McConnell has expressed his desire to get a deal done, some members of his party prefer a short-term deal that would allow bigger spending decisions to be pushed off until January when the GOP can use their new majority in the House for better leverage.
“Mitch McConnell is the reason Democrats are on the verge of passing a huge TRILLION dollar Democrat controlled Omnibus spending bill in the late hours of this lame duck session,” Greene tweeted Wednesday. “McConnell should only agree to a short term CR [continuing resolution] into ’23 to allow the Republican controlled House to make the appropriations bills next year.”
Mitch McConnell is the reason Democrats are on the verge of passing a huge TRILLION dollar Democrat controlled Omnibus spending bill in the late hours of this lame duck session.
McConnell should only agree to a short term CR into ’23 to allow the Republican controlled House to..
— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 (@RepMTG) December 14, 2022
Greene continued, “Every Republican in the country should be demanding Mitch McConnell actually do his job as Republican leader in the Senate and stop helping [President Joe] Biden and the Democrats continue to destroy our country. Pass a CR into ’23 and NO OMNIBUS!!!”
Representative Chip Roy, a Texas Republican, also addressed McConnell directly while debating the spending package on Wednesday.
“I’m looking at Mitch McConnell when I say this: DO YOUR JOB, Leader McConnell. Do your job and follow the wishes of the American people who gave a majority to Republicans in the House of Representatives,” Roy said.
Last week, McCarthy said during an appearance on Fox News that Republicans who are working on a larger spending deal with Democrats are “wrong” to do so, and the issue should wait until the new year.
“Does that include McConnell?” host Laura Ingraham asked.
“Yes,” McCarthy said. “Why would you want to work on anything if we have the gavel inside Congress?”
Newsweek reached out to McConnell for comment.
