Republican House of Representatives member Thomas Massie of Kentucky warned on Tuesday that it may take an “economic catastrophe” before Congress can curb what he described as “out-of-control government spending.”
The comment came amid news on Tuesday morning announced by Republican Speaker Mike Johnson that lawmakers had reached an agreement over government appropriations for the 2024 fiscal year.
Massie said on X, formerly Twitter, that “unsustainable spending will trigger” an economic crisis and should that unfold it may lead his fellow lawmakers to shift course.
“I have come to the conclusion that an economic catastrophe must happen before a majority of my colleagues will get serious about curbing out-of-control government spending,” he said on X. “I don’t know when those things will occur, but that will be the order of operations.”
I have come to the conclusion that an economic catastrophe must happen before a majority of my colleagues will get serious about curbing out of control government spending.
I don’t know when those things will occur, but that will be the order of operations.
— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) March 19, 2024
Early on Tuesday, Johnson, Massie’s fellow Republican, announced that legislators have come to a deal on funding that will finance government operations and avoid a government shutdown.
“An agreement has been reached for [Department of Homeland Security] appropriations, which will allow completion of the [fiscal year 2024] appropriations process,” Johnson said in a statement.
“House and Senate committees have begun drafting bill text to be prepared for release and consideration by the full House and Senate as soon as possible.”
Newsweek contacted Johnson and Massie’s offices for comment via email on Tuesday.
Drew Angerer/Getty Images
Massie appeared critical of the move. He took to X to suggest that the agreement lacked transparency.
“We are back in Ryan-Boehner swamp mode where the omnibus is written behind closed doors,” he noted, referring to former Republican Speakers Paul Ryan and John Boehner.
“Members are told to take it or leave it, and although Republicans control the House, more Democrats vote for it than Republicans because it spends more money than when [Democratic Speaker Nancy] Pelosi was in charge,” he added.
This is not the first time that Massie has been critical of his party’s leadership in Congress over spending bills. In February, after legislators struck an agreement for short-term funding of the bill to avert a government shutdown, he also suggested that the stopgap deal lacked transparency and opposed it.
“They’ve been writing this behemoth behind closed doors for weeks,” he said on X at the time. “If just 1/3 of US Representatives will oppose it we can stop this monstrosity.”
The first installment of the Omnibus is allegedly coming up for a vote next week.
They’ve been writing this behemoth behind closed doors for weeks.
If just 1/3 of US Representatives will oppose it we can stop this monstrosity. https://t.co/np0ZZeSpnp
— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) February 28, 2024
That agreement helped secure government funding until March 22. That deadline is coming up again this Friday and a failure to pass a funding bill could lead to a shutdown of government operations.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.