The White House has taken a new tack in the showdown with Congress over a possible government shutdown, accusing House Republicans of jeopardizing funds to fight the deadly fentanyl drug scourge.
White House spokesman Andrew Bates said in a memo on Tuesday that House GOP conservatives are on the verge of turning their backs on funding the government, and one consequence would be to hold up hundreds of millions of dollars in funding to combat fentanyl trafficking.
“Now, House Republicans have a stark choice to make: Will they honor their word, meet their responsibility to avoid a shutdown, and act on life-and-death priorities like fighting the fentanyl crisis?” Mr. Bates said. The White House memo comes amid partisan posturing over federal spending as Congress returns from its monthlong summer break. Time is rapidly dwindling to advance a dozen spending measures through the House and Senate to avoid a government shutdown, or at least pass a stopgap spending measure to keep the government open and allow talks to proceed. Last week, the Biden administration urged Congress to pass a continuing resolution, and is offering technical support and assistance to lawmakers through the Office of Management and Budget to streamline the process.Members of the conservative Republican House Freedom Caucus have made clear they do not fear a government shutdown, and have made a list of policy and spending cut demands that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy must meet to earn their support for even a short-term extension. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Georgia Republican, has also laid out an ultimatum, saying she will not vote to fund the government unless the House votes on an impeachment inquiry into President Biden, a demand Mr. Bates singled out in his memo. “Will they break their promise and choose to shut down the government — hurting our economy, undermining our disaster preparedness, and forcing our troops to work without getting their paychecks — all to appease Marjorie Taylor Greene and her far-right friends’ demands for a baseless impeachment stunt simply to politically attack the president?” Mr. Bates wrote. Regarding fentanyl, the memo noted that Mr. Biden has requested Congress to advance $800 million in spending to fight trafficking in the highly addictive artificial opioid and “counter the deadly substance being illegally imported from China.” The president has also requested $450 million to help those dealing with opioid overdoses. Securing the U.S.-Mexico border, where the vast bulk of the fentanyl coming into the country originates, has been a marquee issue for the majority of House Republicans. The memo made a point of that by including a handful of statements from lawmakers, including from Mr. McCarthy, California Republican, who said last month that the daily number of fentanyl deaths in the country was “like an airliner crashing every day, and if that happened, we would all be demanding action to keep Americans safe. It’s past time we do the same for the fentanyl epidemic.”
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