The White House has taken a brand new tack within the showdown with Congress over a potential authorities shutdown, accusing House Republicans of jeopardizing funds to combat the lethal fentanyl drug scourge.
White House spokesman Andrew Bates stated in a memo on Tuesday that House GOP conservatives are on the verge of turning their backs on funding the federal government, and one consequence could be to carry up lots of of hundreds of thousands of {dollars} in funding to fight fentanyl trafficking.
“Now, House Republicans have a stark choice to make: Will they honor their word, meet their responsibility to avoid a shutdown, and act on life-and-death priorities like fighting the fentanyl crisis?” Mr. Bates stated.
The White House memo comes amid partisan posturing over federal spending as Congress returns from its monthlong summer time break. Time is quickly dwindling to advance a dozen spending measures by the House and Senate to keep away from a authorities shutdown, or at the least go a stopgap spending measure to maintain the federal government open and permit talks to proceed.
Last week, the Biden administration urged Congress to go a seamless decision, and is providing technical assist and help to lawmakers by the Office of Management and Budget to streamline the method.
Mr. Bates put the onus of the standoff on “far-right” Republicans.
Members of the conservative Republican House Freedom Caucus have made clear they don’t concern a authorities shutdown, and have made an inventory of coverage and spending minimize calls for that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy should meet to earn their assist for even a short-term extension.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Georgia Republican, has additionally laid out an ultimatum, saying she won’t vote to fund the federal government except the House votes on an impeachment inquiry into President Biden, a requirement Mr. Bates singled out in his memo.
“Will they break their promise and choose to shut down the government — hurting our economy, undermining our disaster preparedness, and forcing our troops to work without getting their paychecks — all to appease Marjorie Taylor Greene and her far-right friends’ demands for a baseless impeachment stunt simply to politically attack the president?” Mr. Bates wrote.
Regarding fentanyl, the memo famous that Mr. Biden has requested Congress to advance $800 million in spending to combat trafficking within the extremely addictive synthetic opioid and “counter the deadly substance being illegally imported from China.” The president has additionally requested $450 million to assist these coping with opioid overdoses.
Securing the U.S.-Mexico border, the place the huge bulk of the fentanyl coming into the nation originates, has been a marquee concern for almost all of House Republicans.
The memo made a degree of that by together with a handful of statements from lawmakers, together with from Mr. McCarthy, California Republican, who stated final month that the each day variety of fentanyl deaths within the nation was “like an airliner crashing every day, and if that happened, we would all be demanding action to keep Americans safe. It’s past time we do the same for the fentanyl epidemic.”
Content Source: www.washingtontimes.com