US House Republicans bring culture wars into spending showdown with Senate
By David Morgan
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives is due to begin voting this week on a series of spending bills that take aim at culture-war targets, putting it on a collision course with the Democratic-led Senate and increasing the odds of a government shutdown come October.
Before leaving for their August recess on Friday, House lawmakers will consider two Republican appropriations bills that would provide $155.7 billion in discretionary spending for military construction and veterans affairs, and a total of $25.3 billion for agriculture, rural development and the Food and Drug Administration, for the fiscal year beginning Oct 1.
The measures also contain a number of measures that would limit abortion and transgender rights. Hardline conservatives from the House Freedom Caucus have proposed amendments that would address other hot-button topics including immigration, critical race theory and diversity.
The bills are the first of 12 appropriations measures that lawmakers have been crafting to cover every aspect of government funding.
While the House Appropriations Committee has approved 10 bills so far, all along party lines, its Senate counterpart has moved in an overwhelmingly bipartisan manner to mark up legislation at significantly higher spending levels.
The two chambers have until the end of the current fiscal year on Sept. 30 to pass their respective bills and hammer out compromise legislation or risk a partial government shutdown.
Representative Andy Biggs, a Freedom Caucus member, said he does not expect a shutdown and predicted that lawmakers would instead agree to a temporary funding measure known as a «continuing resolution» — though he said members of the hardline
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