The House Freedom Caucus sent a letter to the White House on Thursday, urging President Donald Trump to reject the Republican leadership’s $1.3 trillion, 2,232-page omnibus spending bill, arguing that it “outright rejects” the promises conservatives made to the voters.
The Freedom Caucus wrote to President Trump:
The funding proposal drafted by House and Senate leadership not only forgets the promises we made to the voters—it outright rejects them. Below are a few of our specific policy concerns:
• This bill does not provide adequate funding for border security. $1.5 billion will be minimally effective in delivering not just our promise, but your promise, to build a wall and keep our country secure. Sanctuary cities also continue to receive federal funds.
• The bill includes the “Fix NICS” proposal, which provides a pathway for unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats to revoke, without due process, the rights of American citizens to keep and bear arms.
• The bill fully funds grants that will go to Planned Parenthood.
• The bill does nothing to further our promise to provide Americans relief from Obamacare. We must continue to reduce burdensome regulations in the healthcare marketplace, return to free market principles, and empower consumers. This bill fails on all three fronts.
As Breitbart News reported, the omnibus spending bill contains language that explicitly bars funding for a southern border wall.
The omnibus also contains provisions that expand the H-2B visa-worker program, which would reduce market pressure on companies to offer American workers higher wages.
Republican leadership also included provisions that will allow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to conduct gun research.
The omnibus also has the Fix NICS Act, which would allow unelected bureaucrats to remove Americans’ right to purchase firearms without due process.
Furthermore, the omnibus spending bill includes funding for the New York Gateway Bridge project that will benefit Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY).
The House Freedom Caucus came out against the omnibus on Wednesday night, calling the legislation an “insult to American taxpayers.”
House Freedom Caucus chairman Mark Meadows (R-NC) lamented in an interview with Breitbart News Daily on Tuesday that the “Senate Democrats seem to be calling most of the shots.”
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) called for the White House to veto the legislation on Wednesday.
The House Freedom Caucus chairman then suggested that Congress should pass another Continuing Resolution (CR) to “deal with the omni in a more deliberate fashion.”
Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) said Wednesday that the omnibus spending bill “is a Great Dane-sized whiz down the leg of every taxpayer.”
The House Freedom Caucus continued in its letter to the White House:
The American people elected us not to buckle, but to deliver. We as the House Freedom Caucus exist to “give a voice to countless Americans who feel that Washington does not represent them. We support open, accountable and limited government, the Constitution and the rule of law, and policies that promote the liberty, safety and prosperity of all Americans.” Each of those principles—fiscal responsibility, Constitutionalism and candor—demand a no vote on the omnibus.
The House conservatives then said, “We urge you to remember the countless forgotten men and women of America who placed their faith in you to change business as usual in Washington, DC.”
The Freedom Caucus concluded, “We urge you to join us and reject this omnibus.”
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