Moore, Sewell vote against CR to avoid government shutdown

U.S. Reps. Barry Moore and Terri Sewell voted against a stopgap funding bill Friday that would have been a step to avoided a government shutdown.

Moore was only one of 21 Republicans to vote against the measure and was the only Republican member of Alabama’s House congressional delegation to do oppose the package.

The continuing resolution (CR) put forward by Speaker Kevin McCarthy failed to pass the House by a vote of 232-198.

Moore (R-Enterprise) said the bill goes against the promise he made to “reject the status quo.”

I opposed today's continuing resolution. It has been 26 years since Congress passed all 12 appropriations bills. In order to impact policy and cut spending, we need to follow the statute and reject the status quo.

— Rep. Barry Moore (@RepBarryMoore) September 29, 2023

“It has been 26 years since Congress passed all 12 appropriations bills. In order to impact policy and cut spending, we need to follow the statute and reject the status quo,” Moore said in a statement. “I am committed to staying in Washington as long as it takes and working with my colleagues across the conference to advance the 12 appropriations bills that curtail our out-of-control spending and help American families fight Biden’s 17 percent inflation tax.”

The congressman recently discussed his problems with the continuing resolution during an appearance on WVNN’s “The Yaffee Program.”

“I just don’t think that’s something we need to do,” Moore said. “Because let’s face it, it’s the IRS, it’s the ATF, it’s the DOJ, it’s the DHS, the EPA, the FBI, all the people that the American citizens are paying and then they turn around and are being weaponized against the American citizens.

“So there’s some opportunities for us to get some budgets and to get some policies in place with the dollars tied to that policy that make sense. So I don’t think the CR makes sense a this point.”

Moore also said Congress could use the government shutdown to push for real reforms.

“I think the shutdown allows us to put pressure in some ways on the leadership to actually reform this process and get back to pre-COVID levels [of] spending,” he said. “That’s what we’ve been trying to do. The emergency in America is over. Joe Biden said it himself.”

Sewell (D-Birmingham), who joined most Democrats in voting no, said she could not support the “extreme” bill.

“We are one day away from a government shutdown, and rather than working with Democrats, House Republicans are fighting amongst themselves and demanding extreme cuts to public education, Head Start programs, cancer research and so much more,” Sewell said in a statement. “This is not a serious proposal. I implore my Republican colleagues to come to the table and work with us to keep the government open. The American people are counting on us!”

Yaffee is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts “The Yaffee Program” weekdays 9-11 a.m. on WVNN. You can follow him on Twitter @Yaffee