Americans for Prosperity, the conservative group backed by the Koch brothers, announced a campaign Monday targeting lawmakers who vote for spending increases.
“This month, we plan to draw serious attention to our spending problem and show Washington that Americans are indeed sweating this issue. That’s why we’re calling for a freeze,” said Chief Government Affairs Officer Brent Gardner for Americans for Prosperity (AFP).
The campaign will focus on visiting Congressional district offices during the August recess and holding informational meetings, town halls, and gatherings.
Congress is working on passing a series of spending bills for 2019 that would raise both defense and non-defense discretionary spending in accordance with the bipartisan budget deal agreed to in March. That deal raised 2018 spending levels by $143 billion and 2019 spending levels by an additional $10 billion.
Paired with the GOP tax reform, which is projected to cost $1.9 trillion over a decade, the spending deal has contributed to a massive widening of the federal deficit, which is on target to surpass $1 trillion next year, according to White House estimates.
AFP enthusiastically supported the tax law, but is opposing the spending bills, calling on Congress to keep spending level with 2018.
“The American dream won’t exist for future generations if we allow our country to head into a debt spiral. This effort is designed to make sure spending remains a critical part of our national discussion,” said Gardner from American For Prosperity.
Trump vowed never to sign another spending bill of that scale.
Congress is working to send Trump smaller groupings of appropriations bills in the coming weeks, even if the overall spending level will remain as planned.
Trump has thrown other wrenches into the 2019 spending debate as well. On Monday he doubled down on his threat to shut down the government to secure enhanced border security measures. Trump would not say if he would veto a spending bill in September unless it included "full" funding for a border wall, saying, "I'll always leave room for negotiation." ...