Conservative leaders are urging Republicans in Congress to take a government shutdown fight “head-on” and reject the Continuing Resolution (CR) proposed by leadership — urging lawmakers to use the budget to “disrupt the Washington Swamp’s playbook to force reforms to Democrats’ failed policies.”
In a letter produced by the Conservative Action Project (CAP) and obtained exclusively by Breitbart News, conservative leaders nationwide wrote, “Under no circumstances should conservatives acquiesce to the spending levels and policies of Joe Biden, Chuck Schumer, and Nancy Pelosi – and that is exactly what the ‘clean’ Continuing Resolution proposed by Speaker McCarthy and Leader McConnell would do.” They are also urging Republicans in Congress not to pass any spending bills without policy reforms attached, including securing the open border, addressing the weaponization of federal law enforcement, and abating the progressive policies being implemented at the Pentagon.
“Neither the House nor the Senate has passed the required appropriations bills, which means a short-term extension of funding – a Continuing Resolution – will be required. This is a critical ‘must pass’ leverage point, and conservatives must use it to disrupt the Washington Swamp’s playbook to force reforms to Democrats’ failed policies,” the letter says.
“Conservatives are ready with reforms. If congressional Democrats would rather shut down the government than secure America, then congressional Republicans must take that fight head-on.”
There are 101 signatories of the letter, including Edwin Meese III, former U.S. Attorney General and Founding Chairman of CAP; Ken Blackwell, former U.S. Ambassador and Chairman of CAP; Jim DeMint, former U.S. Senator and Chairman of Conservative Partnership Institute; Kevin Roberts, President of Heritage Foundation; Tony Perkins, President of Family Research Council; Brooke Rollins, former White House Domestic Policy Advisor and President of America First Policy Institute; Ed Corrigan, President of Conservative Partnership Institute; Jenny Beth Martin, Chairman of Tea Party Patriots Citizen Fund; David N. Bossie, President of Citizens United; David McIntosh, former Member of Congress and President of Club for Growth; L. Brent Bozell III, President of Media Research Center; Russ Vought, former Director of White House OMB and President of Center for Renewing America; T. Kenneth Cribb, Jr., former White House Domestic Policy Advisor and former Counselor to the Attorney General; Paul Teller, former White House Deputy Assistant to the President and Executive Director, Advancing American Freedom; Andy Roth, President of State Freedom Caucus Network; Bob McEwen, former Member of Congress; Becky Norton Dunlop, former White House Senior Staff; Lori Roman, President of ACRU Action Fund; Morton C. Blackwell, former White House Senior Staff and President of Leadership Institute; Tim Huelskamp, former Member of Congress; and Richard Manning, President of Americans for Limited Government.
“Conservatives demand that House GOP leadership stand strong against threats of a government shutdown if necessary to secure our borders, de-weaponize the Justice Department, and de-woke our military,” Ambassador Ken Blackwell, chairman of CAP, said in a statement to Breitbart News.
“Establishment consultants always say you can’t do that because Republicans will get blamed. But as we saw during the Trump years, when explained the right way, Americans understand to blame Biden, Schumer, and Jeffries (formerly Pelosi).”
“Many voters believe there’s no point in reelecting leaders who don’t keep their promise to fight for what they ran on,” Blackwell added. “The current team got elected promising to use the power of the purse to achieve these things, not to say that it’s never the right time to fight.”
Some conservative lawmakers have already announced they oppose any stopgap spending bill that does not address the same issues raised by CAP, including border security measures, the weaponization of the government, and the woke policies in the military.
Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) has said he opposes a “yearlong” stopgap spending bill, as it would “lock in place” Democrat policies; however, he said that he expects a short-term CR could pass to fund the government through early December.
It remains uncertain if a CR could pass through the government containing these Freedom Caucus demands, which could mean that Congress could be barreling toward a government shutdown once the legislative branch returns from its August recess.
Emma-Jo Morris is the Politics Editor at Breitbart News. Email her at
