Capitol Hill is once again staring down a funding deadline, and conservative lawmakers are making it clear they will not rubber-stamp another trillion-dollar package without a fight.
Sources on both sides of the aisle say leadership is working behind closed doors on a short-term continuing resolution — the kind of stopgap measure that has become routine in a city that refuses to pass real budgets. Critics on the right argue that routine is the problem.
"Every CR is a surrender to the swamp," one senior aide told The Con Job. "Taxpayers deserve an up-or-down vote on spending priorities, not another kick-the-can exercise written at midnight."
The fight mirrors a broader tension inside the Republican conference: members elected on promises to shrink government versus a leadership class that prefers predictable deals. Whether conservatives extract meaningful concessions this round remains an open question — but the base is watching.