House conservatives are pushing back on a $1.2 trillion spending package congressional leaders unveiled, as a Friday partial shutdown deadline looms.
Hard-liners hit the six-bill package's price tag, its late-night release, funding priorities, and the exclusion of some of conservatives' policy riders — especially those related to the border, The Hill reported.
Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and his team also came under fire for cutting a deal with Democrats on the spending bill, getting chided for being "afraid of a shutdown," the outlet noted.
"It's total lack of backbone, total lack of leadership, and a total failure by Republican leadership. There's no other way to describe it," Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, said Thursday on Steve Bannon's "War Room" podcast. "This bill is an abomination."
On X, formerly known as Twitter, the House Freedom Caucus wrote no members of the GOP conference should vote for the package.
"A massive spending bill drafted in secrecy and dropped on us in the middle of the night is being rushed to the House floor for a vote with less than 36 hours to review," the group added.
The latest spending package emerged around 3 a.m. Thursday to avert Friday's midnight partial government shutdown deadline. The Hill, citing an unnamed source, said lawmakers are aiming for a Friday morning vote on the legislation.
Both sides are claiming victories in the legislation, with Democrats highlighting investments in child care and domestic programs and GOP leaders citing an increase in the number of detention beds for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and cuts to diversity, equity, and inclusion programs.
"It's not a perfect piece of legislation. It's not the one we would draft and pass if the Republicans had control of the House, the Senate, and the White House. And I think you'll see that next year. But right now, we're managing it, getting it through. And I think we'll avoid a long shutdown for the government," Johnson said on CNBC's "Squawk Box."
"We got some of the things we wanted. We didn't get everything we wanted, but we'll continue to move forward," he added.
Hard-liners weren't impressed.
"I don't even have words for any Republican that votes for this bill," Roy told Bannon. "I promise you: I will not be going out and supporting any Republican who votes for this bill for any position ever again. It's absolutely unsupportable by anybody who is a self-proclaimed conservative."
"A vote for this bill is a vote against America. A vote for this bill is a vote for the mass parole and release of criminals that are killing Americans," he later added. "Any Republican who votes for this bill owns the murders, the rapes, and the assaults by the people that are being released into our country. There is no defense of it, period."
Some criticized the roughly $200 million in the bill for new FBI headquarters in Maryland.
"The swamp's new spending package released while you were sleeping includes $200 MILLION for a new FBI HQ. We can't fix weaponized government if we're funding it," Rep. Barry Moore, R-Ala., wrote on X.
The Freedom Caucus account pointed out a number of earmarks that direct dollars to facilities across the country that support the LGBTQ community. Rep. Josh Brecheen, R-Okla., slammed the $1.2 trillion price tag.
Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., bashed a provision that provides $3 million for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative. And Rep. Mary Miller, R-Ill., decried funding for nongovernmental organizations related to immigration.
Hard-liners also targeted policy riders left out of the bill, including provisions that would decrease the salaries of controversial Cabinet officials to $1, prohibit mass parole and the release of immigrants lacking permanent legal status on the CBP One App, and end the Pentagon's policy that reimburses travel costs for service members who travel for an abortion service.
One of the largest complaints from conservatives was about the process used by leadership to roll out and consider the 1,012-page spending measure in the early hours of the morning.
"You'd never be expected to sign a 1,000 page document to buy a new car in a day. Why should Congress be expected to sign off on +1,000 pages resulting in $1.2 trillion in spending in a day?" Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., wrote on X.
"We want members to be able to understand legislation, have a time to review it before they vote on it. What a concept! Everybody is reading this quickly," Johnson said, The Hill reported. "I think we have to get this done by the weekend because I think the stakes are too high."
Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., referenced the annual NCAA men's college basketball tournament, asserting the real "March Madness" was taking place in the Capitol.
"The real March Madness happening right now is the Swamp dropping a giant $1 trillion+, 1K page+ funding package in the dead of night and forcing a vote in less than 72 hours," he wrote on X.