Bannon to Republicans who back ‘outrageous’ budget bill: ‘You’re done’
Former White House aide Steve Bannon issued a stark warning for Republican lawmakers to vote against the latest government funding deal as Congress races to pass the legislation ahead of Friday’s partial shutdown deadline.
“And I got to tell you, this deficit in this budget is outrageous. It’s going to be over $2 trillion — mark my words — going to be over $2 trillion,” Bannon said Thursday on his “War Room” podcast. “And this is why it’s got to be fought, it’s got to be stopped now.”
Congressional leaders unveiled the $1.2 trillion spending package overnight Wednesday, which includes funding for half the 12 annual government spending bills.
The proposed package was met with fierce criticism from conservatives, who have demanded House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and leadership provide them with at least 72 hours to review the legislation. Leadership is pushing for a Friday morning vote, meaning lawmakers will have had just about a day to review the 1,012-page minibus.
Bannon, who served as an adviser during former President Trump’s administration, argued the passage of the bill would restrict the former president and his economic plans if he is reelected to the Oval Office. He urged voters to call on their representatives to block the bill.
“We’re going to hamstring — all these people say, ‘Oh, we need a bigger majority, we need to take the Senate, we need to get President Trump back in,’ — you’re going to hamstring President Trump on his economic plan,” he said. “You’re going to hamstring that plan by passing this budget. We got to fight and you’ve got to tell people, ‘Hey, you vote for this, you’re done — I’m done with you.’”
“I don’t care what good they’ve done in the past this is signal, not noise,” he continued, adding later, “You got to hit them with both barrels today, this thing needs to be stopped, needs to not be brought. They’re breaking the rules.”
Bannon argued Republicans need to demand President Biden take action on the border if he wants to avoid the looming partial shutdown.
“[Lawmakers] need to tell Biden either shut down the border now or you’re going to shut down your government and we’ll get in a room over the weekend and you convince us of what you’re going to do … executive orders and others to shut down the border from the invasion,” he said. “Once you do that, then we can talk about giving you the money to open your government back up. Until then, sorry.”
Republican Rep. Chip Roy (Texas) spoke with Bannon earlier Thursday and ripped into Johnson.
“It’s a total lack of backbone, total lack of leadership, and a total failure by Republican leadership. There’s no other way to describe it,” Roy said. “This bill is an abomination.”
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
