Rep. Sam Liccardo Will Vote Against Stopgap Funding Measure

WASHINGTON, DC—Just days before a potential government shutdown, House Republicans introduced another eleventh-hour stopgap funding bill that does nothing to lower costs, withholds veterans’ benefits, cuts affordable housing programs, and gives President Trump and Elon Musk nearly unfettered power to move funding between programs without the clear Congressional direction that accompanies more typical appropriations bills. Specifically, Congress's lack of program direction—which would exist in any appropriations bill or typical budget—gives the executive branch unfettered authority to take immediate action. . 

Representative Sam Liccardo released the following statement:

“I didn’t come to Congress to withhold veterans' benefits, make our homelessness problem worse, and participate in the Republicans’ scheme to abdicate Constitutional budgetary authority to a President who has demonstrated unprecedented recklessness with the lives and livelihoods of the American people.    

“If the last six weeks of unhinged trade wars, market crashes, mass firings, and  DOGE incompetence have taught us anything, it’s that this President needs less power, not more. We can’t trust Donald Trump and Elon Musk to abide by Congress’s funding bills, so why would we give them a blank check?

“I’ll be the first to say that Congress needs to cut spending and reform our budget process. I was a mayor who cut $3 billion in spending and left my city with a surplus. I know how to balance a budget, and doing so requires transparency, which this bill and this administration lack. I cannot support a bill that pushes 32,000 families out onto the streets and cuts essential services for our veterans just to add $6 billion more to perpetuate long-unneeded legacy procurement programs at the Department of Defense. 

“Republicans control Congress and the Executive Branch, and until they commit to negotiate with us in good faith, I will do nothing to stop them from shutting down the government if they cannot secure the agreement within their own caucus on a bad budget bill.”

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