Senate GOP caught off guard by talks of alternative spending deal: ‘Good luck’

Senate Republicans were caught off guard on Thursday amid reports that House conservatives were talking with Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) about an alternative to the bipartisan spending deal announced just days ago.

The push to renege on the deal Johnson struck with Democratic leaders — with just more than a week standing between Congress and a Jan. 19 partial shutdown deadline — sparked a mixture of surprise and groans from Republicans in the upper chamber, even as Johnson hasn’t committed to pulling out of the agreement.

“That’s not gonna work,” Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) said bluntly when asked about the news on Thursday.

“Good luck,” Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said with apparent sarcasm regarding the effort.

“I mean, the House is going to have to do what the House is going to do, but agreement has been reached, and let’s, let’s move on,” said Murkowski, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee. 

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) speaks to a reporter after the weekly Senate Republican policy luncheon on Tuesday, December 12, 2023. (Greg Nash)

Sen. Susan Collins (Maine), the top Republican on the appropriations panel, warned of greater chances of a shutdown next week if the House GOP pulls out of the recent deal.

“It would be extremely difficult,” she said.

Senate Republican Whip John Thune (R-S.D.) said, “They’ve got to figure it out. It sounds like they had an agreement, so I don’t know how they figure out a way to revise it, but that’s their call.”

“I assume he’ll do everything he can to get the job done over there and hopefully he’ll have enough of the Republican caucus working with him who are interested in getting results that they’ll be able to get an outcome, but I don’t know how to predict it at this point. … I think he’s very sincere and wants to get results, but he has to manage an incredibly divided caucus and I assume at some point they’ll have to get it done in a bipartisan way because I don’t think there are people on our side of the aisle who will vote for anything.” 

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Hard-line conservatives have sharply opposed Johnson’s recent top-line spending deal with Senate Democrats.

That deal sets a $1.59 trillion top line for fiscal 2024 government funding, which is in line with the levels written in the Fiscal Responsibility Act that passed with bipartisan support last year. The deal would also allow for accelerated cuts to IRS funding and the clawback of billions of dollars in unused COVID-19 dollars. 

However, the deal also would allow for billions in additional funding for nondefense programs, which has conservatives fuming.   

Leaving Johnson’s office on Thursday, conservative hard-liners said they were crafting a new spending plan, but were mum on specifics. 

Johnson also hasn’t committed to an alternative plan. 

And there’s already skepticism in the conference about the chances of Johnson pulling out of the recent deal.

“You can’t pull out a deal that was already cut,” Rep. Mario Díaz-Balart (R-Fla.), a spending cardinal, said Thursday. “You can’t do that … because then you can’t cut any deal, you can’t negotiate anymore. So, I doubt very much that will happen.”

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) said Johnson “needs to do whatever he can to keep his conference together.”

Tillis, who noted his experience as a state House speaker, also said he doesn’t believe Johnson wants a shutdown. But, he added, “There are people in his party that do.”

“They’re the same ones who were okay with us not having a Speaker for two weeks,” he said.

Still, some Senate conservatives may be open to Johnson reneging on the deal if it means less spending.

“We’re spending too much and borrowing too much,” Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.) said. “So. I think it’s sooner or later we’ve got to draw the line.”