Republican senators are anticipating GOP wins in the upcoming November elections, enough so that some of the usual opponents are willing to pass a stopgap spending bill in September that would push off appropriations bills until 2025, when a potentially Republican Senate majority and White House could play a part in crafting them.
“I do happen to believe that the continuing resolution that we ought to be looking at come September 30th, when our current spending bills run out of steam, is a spending bill that I think should take us into 2025, probably into March or April of 2025,” Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, told Fox News Digital in a recent interview.
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The Utah Republican has been a vocal critic against a cycle of continuing spending resolutions and omnibus bills frequently used in recent years to pass the all-important annual appropriations measures. According to him, a move like this would serve to avoid “the possibility of a lame duck omnibus” bill crafted by a Democratic Senate majority under the Biden administration.
He said that such a measure would be “put in place, probably after some pretty significant Republican victories” during the 2024 elections “that will lead to Republicans having control of the Senate next year.”
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Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., has repeatedly sounded the alarm about returning to a process of regular order, particularly when it comes to appropriations. The continuing resolution suggested by Lee “makes sense to me,” he said, adding that he “absolutely” sees himself pushing for it come September.
The fiscal hawk explained the stopgap spending bill would “slow down the spending up here,” noting that “Anything other than a continuing resolution—folks up here are going to increase the spending.”
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“Then, we need a commitment when we come back here to go through some type of regular order on the budget process and then work really hard on being ready for budget reconciliation, assuming we win all three levers.”
Republican senators met with former President Trump on Thursday at the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) headquarters in Washington, D.C., with the exceptions of Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, who did not attend. The majority of attendees seemed to emerge from the meeting feeling optimistic about Republicans’ odds in the upcoming elections.
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The Senate is currently led by a Democratic majority, with a 51-49 split. But Republicans are looking at a much more advantageous Senate election map than their Democratic counterparts, five of whose incumbent senators are in tough battleground state races. Democrats are also losing three caucus members in Sens. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., and Joe Manchin, I-W.Va. The West Virginia Senate seat is expected to be an easy Republican pick up, with non-partisan political handicapper the Cook Political Report rating it as “Solid Republican.” As for the seats being vacated in Michigan and Arizona, they are both only considered “Lean Democratic.”
Further, Trump has a significant chance of retaking the White House, leading President Biden in polls of several critical battleground states, giving both himself and Republican lawmakers hope.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., did not respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
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