Government spending fight bleeds into CPAC with calls to ‘shut it down’

NATIONAL HARBOR, Maryland — As House Republicans continue to quarrel over how to address a pair of government spending deadlines, GOP voters are echoing calls from hard-line Republicans on Capitol Hill pushing for a government shutdown until stricter security measures are implemented at the southern border. 

While people on the right gathered for the annual Conservative Political Action Conference on Thursday, some of the top legislative disagreements plaguing lawmakers in Washington, D.C., bled into the conference hall at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland. Chief among those topics was the southern border, with some House Republicans reiterating their calls to halt government funding until substantial border policy changes are made. 

“My position to my colleagues on Capitol Hill is clear. You either secure the border or you get no money for the government,” Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) told attendees at the conference. “The federal government has one primary job: to secure this nation and security. That’s its first job before anything else.”

Donalds’s comments come just one week before the government is scheduled to enter a partial shutdown on March 1 if some sort of spending deal is not passed. The House doesn’t return until next Wednesday, giving lawmakers just three working days before funding is set to lapse for a slate of government agencies. 

But the time crunch is nothing new for Congress. In fact, this is the fourth time lawmakers have faced a shutdown deadline in the last year alone. And every time, Republicans in the House have expressed support to shut down the government until Congress passes border legislation.

“We must make funding for federal government operations contingent on the President signing H.R. 2, or its functional equivalent, into law and stopping the flow across our border (with demonstrable near-zero results),” Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) wrote in a letter to his colleagues last month. 

Democrats have repeatedly pushed against a government shutdown, arguing it would negatively affect constituents who rely on government services. However, many voters attending the CPAC summit expressed support for a government shutdown in exchange for border policies. 

“It’s [the] government’s job to secure the border and make sure that we have a nation. And if they can’t do that, they’re not doing their job,” one attendee, Justin Holley, told the Washington Examiner. “So shut it down.”

“Shut it down if they’re not going to do the right thing. Sometimes, a really strong action is required for people to wake up,” Roberta Curtin from Georgia said. “I’m prepared either way.”

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It’s not yet clear how Congress plans to avoid a government shutdown next week, but the possibility of packaging appropriations bills into a so-called minibus has been raised among House GOP leaders, a source familiar with the conversations told the Washington Examiner. 

Such a move would likely be accepted in the Democratic-led Senate, according to aides in the upper chamber. Another source told the Washington Examiner that talks are ongoing between House and Senate leaders, with a funding proposal possibly being released as soon as Sunday evening.

Hailey Bullis contributed to this report.