Far-right House Republicans demand Mike Johnson keep anti-LGBTQ+ provisions in spending bills

The far-right House Freedom Caucus sent a letter to Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) demanding that their conservative riders be kept on large spending bills for 2024 that still haven’t been passed by Congress. Their list of demands includes several anti-LGBTQ+ provisions.

House Republicans attached anti-LGBTQ+ provisions to several major spending bills in Congress, which included things like ending LGBTQ+ anti-discrimination measures at federal agencies or requiring the Federal Aviation Authority to stop posting Pride content to social media. Since these amendments are not about spending but were still attached to appropriations bills, they’re called riders.

Related:

Marjorie Taylor Greene wants anti-LGBTQ+ amendments in a national air travel bill

“We don’t need to promote people’s sexual identity with our tax dollars. We know that people are equal, and we recognize that.”

Instead of passing the bills to fund the federal government, moderate Republicans voted with Democrats for continuing resolutions to keep the federal government funded through March to avoid a government shutdown. With the deadline approaching, the House Freedom Caucus is worried that their riders will be removed from the appropriations bills to get them through the Democratic Senate.

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“With the expiration of government funding rapidly approaching, negotiations continue behind closed doors and as a result, we anticipate text for likely omnibus legislation that we fear will be released at the latest moment before being rushed to the floor for a vote,” the letter from the Freedom Caucus states. “House Republicans should not be left in the dark on the status of the spending levels and hard-fought policy provisions.” 

The letter contains a list of riders that are a priority for the House Freedom Caucus, which include their efforts to “defund gender transition surgeries or ‘gender affirming care’ paid by taxpayer dollars,” “prohibit funding for radical ‘Diversity, Equality, Inclusion’ (DEI) Executive Orders and the other bureaucratic offices responsible for promoting DEI and ‘Critical Race Theory’ training and policies,” and “prohibit rules requiring biological boys to be allowed to compete against girls in women’s sports and prohibit federal funding for schools that allow biological men to participate in women-only sports.”

Some of the non-LGBTQ+ demands the Freedom Caucus is making include putting an end to “Biden’s absurd and destructive bans on gas stoves and other appliances” (Biden never banned gas stoves), blocking “Biden’s attempts to dismantle, demolish, remove, or damage existing border wall” (Biden is expanding the wall), and prohibiting “funding for COVID-19 vaccine and mask mandates across the government.”

“There are MANY other policies and personnel that Congress should not be funding, and a failure to eliminate them will reduce the probability that the appropriations bills will be supported by even a majority of Republicans,” the letter states.

One of the 2024 appropriations bills that has already passed is the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which funds the military. In order to reconcile the bill with the Senate version, most of the anti-LGBTQ+ riders were removed, which outraged many House Republicans. It ultimately passed with 73 Republicans voting against it in the House and substantial help from House Democrats.

The House Freedom Caucus is applying pressure from the right on Johnson to avoid a similar outcome for the other appropriations bills, but they may only give Johnson more incentive to work with Democrats to get the bills passed to prevent a government shutdown.

Congress has already passed three continuing resolutions to extend the deadline for passing these funding bills, and there are already some House members who have discussed the possibility of another continuing resolution, according to The Hill.