Horowitz: Senate Republicans are about to nuke the entire purpose of a red wave

Republicans seek office while Democrats seek power. And because Republicans want the office without any responsibilities, they specifically choose to strip themselves of any power needed to effect change so that they can appear powerless in the face of the challenges confronting us today. This is why Mitch McConnell and his ilk are seeking to destroy the only benefit to Republicans winning back Congress next year.

This week, Senate GOP leaders will agree to help pass a Democrat continuing resolution to fund government past the beginning of fiscal year 2023 into mid-December. This means that they will agree to fund all the terrible activities of the FBI and IRS, all of the COVID malfeasance, all of the Ukrainian money laundering, and all of the DHS’ smuggling of illegal aliens into American cities. In other words, this bill is one big “amen” to every unprecedented autocratic policy of our time. But it’s worse than that.

At a minimum, if Senate Republicans don’t want to filibuster the budget and fight for policy changes now, they should at least empower House Republicans who will likely control the lower chamber in January. Thus, they should sign off on a CR that funds the government with an expiration date sometime after January so that the new GOP Congress can address all the policy concerns in the budget with more leverage. After all, isn’t that the entire purpose of the election? It’s not like Republicans will ever have the votes to pass good bills, but at least they can hold up budget bills as leverage to effect change.

In comes McConnell and company, and they plan to strategically have the CR expire on Dec. 16, right before Christmas while members are rushing to leave the Capitol but before Republicans control the House. This will allow Democrats to permanently control the FY 2023 budget and every policy of the federal government all the way through next September, thereby undercutting the entire purpose of Republicans winning back the House.

This lame-duck omnibus will not only fund all of the current odious policies but will likely add new ones to the mix. Republicans are willing to fund all the current bad policies in the short-term CR and are only fighting over how much new funding for Ukraine and COVID they are willing to accept. But in any lame-duck omnibus, there is no limit to what Republicans are willing to accept.

Thus, Democrats long for power as a treasure to be immediately harnessed and used, whereas Republicans shun the opportunity to control power, particularly the key leverage of the budget process. They are deathly afraid of a February 2023 budget deadline with a GOP-controlled House and a conservative base demanding they defund the tyrannical Biden administration policies in the budget. Lame-duck chicanery is the best way for Republicans to “cleanly” avoid confrontation, and passing a CR this month that expires before Christmas is the first step.

McConnell and company have already betrayed conservatives on red-flag laws, endless Ukraine funding, and ceding all the leverage on budget bills, debt ceilings, and defense authorization bills. Now, Republicans are planning to codify gay marriage in a way that will force the rainbow jihad agenda on the states. Unlike during the Tea Party, they are not even promising to do better next year; they are cheating on us in broad daylight right before the election.

As a way to mollify the base for all the betrayal, Lindsey Graham is now playing up his bill to ban abortions nationwide after 15 weeks of pregnancy. However, voters need to understand that Republicans are promising bills they will never have the votes to pass in exchange for supplying Democrats with enough votes for bad policies that Schumer wouldn’t be able to pass without GOP support. Republicans will never win the presidency along with 60 pro-life senators for years to come. The best they can do is block bad bills from passing and use leverage from the budget bills to push for conservative priorities. All victories for life will have to take place in the states. Yet at the same time, they are passing a bill that will ban states from defining marriage as marriage. The abortion bill is a complete distraction.

And where are the Senate candidates? Where are people like Pennsylvania GOP Senate nominee Mehmet Oz? If they are really itching to represent us in Congress, why are they not demanding that they be allowed to influence the budget for this upcoming year rather than handing another year’s budget – along with every policy that matters – to the Democrats? Their silence is deafening.

We all thought Republicans would at least wait until next year and then sell out, but now they are ensuring that there is no leverage left for the new majority.