Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) once again threatened to derail a must-pass bill that includes military and veterans funding if his credit card legislation is not included.
Marshall on Thursday told reporters that he would not consent to have the Senate take up the three-bill “minibus” appropriations bill for the agriculture, military, and transportation programs.
“Politically, I think it’s the right time. I think that we can win the vote now,” Marshall said. The Kansas senator, who introduced the bill with Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), said conversations on the bill have been “very positive.”
This move to derail the minibus spending bill follows as Marshall told Politico on Wednesday that there are not “really any conversations going” about his and Durbin’s legislation targeting credit card fees.
“How to keep the government open, but balance the budget at the same time, is really consuming everybody’s thoughts. When it happens, it happens,” he said.
This is not the first time that Marshall has threatened to derail a must-pass bill if he does not get a vote on his credit card legislation, otherwise known as the Credit Card Competition Act.
Breitbart News reported in July that Marshall’s office has called Senate offices, urging them to back his effort to include the credit card bill in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), legislation that is meant to focus on improving America’s military readiness.
Marshall then appeared to back off after receiving assurances that his legislation would receive a vote this Congress. However, now, it appears that he will slow down the bill that includes military funding unless the Senate also votes on his bill with Durbin.
“The Credit Card Competition Act has nothing to do with veterans or the military. Roger Marshall should stop trying to jam a bill that benefits Durbin and Target onto legislation meant to help veterans,” a Senate source told Breitbart News.
“When Marshall jams these military and veterans bills up over unrelated provisions, it hurts our ability to make the bills more conservative,” a former Senate national security adviser told Breitbart News.
Sen. Marshall’s office has yet to respond to a comment request from Breitbart News about this development.
Sean Moran is a policy reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SeanMoran3.
