The elephantine spending bill that leaders of Congress hope to push through within hours to avoid any government stoppage will not become law, Republican Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona predicted on
Newsmax TV Thursday.
Gosar told "MidPoint" host Ed Berliner that just getting enough votes in the House for a basic procedural step toward a final budget was excruciatingly close — never mind passing the actual $1.1 trillion package referred to as the "Cromnibus."
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"They barely got over the procedural hump … by two votes, and that was a display that people are very, very unhappy with the bill," said Gosar, who came to Congress in the 2010 tea party wave generated by popular outrage at federal spending.
"1,600 pages and no one's read it," he said of the current House bill, which is
under fire from lawmakers of both parties in both chambers as Thursday's completion deadline nears. "No one knows the complications or implications."
"Here, we as Republicans [have] said, 'You shouldn't have to pass the bill to find out what's in a bill,' and yet we're doing the same thing," he said. "Enough is enough."
A member of House panels covering healthcare, entitlement spending, economic growth and government regulation, Gosar said that the budget should be broken up into smaller, shorter-term measures — the so-called "continuing resolutions," or CRs.
He urged that his colleagues insist on the targeted, CR approach that can be used against President Barack Obama's massive hold on deportations for immigrations here illegally and other executive orders that bypassed Congress.
Gosar said to go that route even at the risk of another government shutdown — or "slowdown" as he called it.
"We're not shutting down the government, " said Gosar. "That's what everybody fails to realize."
"Government slow[ed] down the last time, but it was never shut down because what happens over 80 percent of all funding is actually spent on automatic pilot," he said. "That's what people don't realize, and this president chose to take it out on us.
"Hey listen, the government was slowed down in 2013, and who lost? The president and the Democratic Party," he said, citing last month's midterm electoral rout of Democrats.
"People woke up to what was happening in this country," said Gosar. "They're tired of the emperor's reach and they want accountability, and that means that we as representatives — true representatives of the people — need to stand up and say, 'Hey no, you can't go past "Go." Do not collect $200 — and go directly to jail.' "
Gosar said that blocking the omnibus spending bill is "not just about immigration."
"It's about all the overreaches of this administration," he said, citing administration-approved edicts on everything from power plant regulation to law enforcement training.
"All of this needs to be articulated," he said, adding that Congress should "embrace good behavior instead of rewarding bad behavior" on the part of the president.
"I'm not here to push a spending bill," said Gosar. "I want us to work. I know this is going to take extra due diligence."
He said Congress can parse appropriations piece-by-piece and still be home for Christmas.