The Scoop
The Trump administration’s bid to claw back federal spending approved by GOP appropriators “erodes trust in” ongoing government funding discussions, Virginia Republican Rep. Ben Cline said at Semafor’s World Economy Summit on Thursday.
House Speaker Mike Johnson last week told reporters that the proposals, known as rescissions packages, are “part of [the GOP’s] process” as it continues to pursue “sound fiscal responsibility.” Democrats and moderate Republicans, however, have expressed concern that advancing those clawbacks could make it harder for Congress to coalesce around a bipartisan deal on funding that would reopen the government.
“I do think we need to curtail federal spending, and I supported the rescissions package because that is something that we looked to address from previous appropriations bills,” said Cline, a member of the conservative Freedom Caucus who also sits on the Appropriations Committee, which makes federal spending decisions.
“Appropriations is a committee where you really do have to work across party lines and work on that trust factor,” Cline said. “So I don’t know that — as we move forward, as we get Republican appropriations packages enacted, are you going to see as many or as strong of an effort? … No, I don’t think you see as many.”
He added that, as a member of the committee, “I sympathize with… those who see a whipsaw effect where, if you’re going to enter into agreement for an appropriations package, and then see a rescissions bill come after that that takes away from that — it erodes trust in the appropriations negotiations that are going on.”
Cline, who voted for the first rescissions package this Congress, also belongs to the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus.
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Also on Thursday, Cline said he wants to talk to Democrats about stopping enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies from lapsing at the end of the year — as long as they first advance the GOP’s short-term government funding bill.
He said he’d want to see changes made that could eventually render the subsidies unnecessary.
Once the government reopens, he said, “I, as a problem solver — and yes, as a conservative — do commit to having that conversation, because my constituents don’t want to see their health insurance premiums doubled. But at the same time, why are they doubling in the first place, and what were those subsidies meant to cover?”