- One member of North Carolina's congressional delegation has signed a letter urging colleagues to reject Democrats' temporary federal spending plan.
- U.S. Rep. Dan Bishop, R-9th District, joins 55 colleagues in the House and Senate calling for a spending deal that will extend into 2023.
Ninth District U.S. Rep. Dan Bishop has signed on to one of two letters urging Republican congressional colleagues to reject Democrats’ latest temporary federal spending plan. Bishop is the only member of the N.C. delegation to sign the letters.
“Congress should not be a rubber stamp for the destructive Biden agenda,” Bishop told Carolina Journal via email. “This short-term spending bill is a recipe for disaster, as it would pave the way for Democrats to spend billions of dollars even while they are on their way out the door. Americans are fed up with the radical Democrat agenda, and Republicans should not give Democrats leeway to fund it any further. ”
“Federal dollars are fueling rampant inflation and funding the Biden administration’s radical agenda,” opens the U.S. House version of the letter, authored by Texas Republican Rep. Chip Roy. “This includes empowering authoritarian bureaucrats at agencies like the IRS and FBI, implementing open-border policies that are threatening our communities, imposing COVID-19 mandates that shut down schools and are forcing our military servicemembers out of their jobs, and advancing self-destructive energy policies.”
Bishop is one of 42 House Republicans to sign the letter. “As the September 30th federal funding deadline approaches, Republicans must do what is necessary to ensure that not one additional penny will go toward this administration’s radical, inflationary agenda,” the letter continues. “Any legislation that sets the stage for a ‘lame duck’ fight on government funding gives Democrats one final opportunity to pass that agenda.”
“Therefore, we, the undersigned, will oppose any continuing resolution that expires prior to the first day of the 118th Congress, or any appropriations package put forward in the remaining months of this Democrat-led Congress,” the letter concludes.
Fourteen Republican senators have signed on to a similar letter in Congress’ upper chamber. Neither of North Carolina’s U.S. senators signed that letter.
The Democrats who run both chambers of Congress have put forward a temporary spending plan to address a Sept. 30 federal funding deadline. The plan would take effect at the end of this week. It would last through the election. The timeline would give the current Congress an opportunity to debate budget issues again in a “lame duck” session after voters head to the polls but before the new Congress takes office in 2023.
Editor’s note: This article was updated on Sept. 28 to include a comment from Bishop.