Mike Johnson’s $1.2 Trillion Funding Deal Sparks Republican Fury

House Speaker Mike Johnson’s $1.2 trillion funding deal sparked outrage from Republicans, who say he isn’t giving them enough time to review such a robust package.

Every fiscal year, Congress has to pass a budget before October 1. For months, lawmakers have been passing stopgap bills to avoid a government shutdown and continually pushing back deadlines for which appropriation bills need to be passed.

Earlier this month, Congress passed a six-bill deal, known as a minibus, to fund parts of the government, including the Departments of Agriculture, Veterans Affairs, Housing and Urban Development, Justice, Transportation and Commerce, as well as military construction, through September 30.

Johnson’s package includes funding for the Departments of Treasury, Defense and Homeland Security, as well as for the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Lawmakers typically get 72 hours to read over legislation before voting on it, but with a looming government shutdown, Johnson suggested that he will waive the 72-hour rule to get his spending bill passed before Friday’s midnight deadline.

The House speaker said on CNBC’s Squawk Box Thursday morning: “We have to keep moving. We gotta keep the government funded. We have to keep operating, keep the train on the tracks.

“Because of a divided government it’s not a perfect piece of legislation…but right now we’re managing it, getting it through and I think we’ll avoid a long shutdown for the government.”

Newsweek reached out to Johnson’s office via email for comment.

This did not go over well with some Republicans, including Representative Majorie Taylor Greene, a Georgia Republican who has been a vocal critic of minibuses.

Greene wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on Thursday: “The minibus was released at 2:32 am and is 1,012 pages of $1.2 trillion taxpayer dollars. And we are supposed to be voting on it tomorrow morning under suspension with no amendments allowed with the super scary government shutdown deadline threat looming tomorrow at midnight.

“It takes 27.8 hours for the average reader to read 1,000 pages. I guess we are supposed to just pass it first and then find out what’s in it like [former House Speaker] Nancy Pelosi says,” the congresswoman said.

GOP congressman Andy Biggs from Arizona shared some of Greene’s sentiments, writing on X: “The DC Cartel released the text of the $1.2 trillion minibus in the middle of the night. It is 1,012 pages. At $34.5 trillion in debt, we cannot afford this continued reckless spending.”

Representative Andrew Clyde, another Georgia Republican, called the package a “monstrosity.”

“At 2:32 am—when Americans were sleeping—the Swamp released its second half of the omnibus. 1,012 pages that spend $1.2 TRILLION of taxpayer dollars on disastrous policies,” he wrote on X. “The House is still expected to vote on this monstrosity TOMORROW MORNING. Washington is beyond broken.”

GOP congressman Chip Roy from Texas ranted about the funding deal to Steve Bannon on his conservative talk show War Room.

“It’s total lack of backbone, total lack of leadership, and a total failure by Republican leadership, there’s no other way to describe this bill is an abomination,” Roy said.

He then encouraged listeners to talk to their representatives about the risks of the deal.

“Light up your congressmen and congresswomen. Light them up. light up your senators, tell them the truth that they are risking the House majority if they vote for this bill,” the congressman said.

Senator Mike Lee, a Utah Republican who will vote on the bill if it passes through the House, wrote on X: “No sane person would buy a car under this kind of pressure—with a 1,012-page contract and no meaningful opportunity to review it or make changes.”

He added: “Members of Congress should be even more reluctant—not less—to vote for a 1,012-page, $1.2 trillion bill under the same pressure.”

While the bill still has to get passed in both chambers, President Joe Biden said he’ll sign it if it gets to his desk.