House Speaker Paul Ryan suggested Tuesday that the House will use its “power of the purse” by including policy riders in spending bills.
“The power of the purse rests with the legislative branch,” Ryan, R-Wis., said after meeting with House Republicans on Tuesday. “And we fully expect we are going to exercise that power.”
Tuesday marks Ryan’s second full legislative day as House speaker. He met privately with rank-and-file members at Republican headquarters Tuesday morning, where lawmakers discussed the upcoming transportation authorization measure. The legislation comes to the floor Tuesday.
Ryan said the bill, which authorizes highway projects for six years, will demonstrate the new, inclusive and open management the House will take under his leadership. Members will consider up to 280 amendments.
“We are opening up the process by allowing members to participate in a way that the founding fathers envisioned,” Ryan said. “That is why we are going to have an open process on the floor, with lots of amendments by members of both parties.”
Ryan told reporters he is “committed to a complete set of changes to the House rules to make it a more deliberative process.”
Ryan didn’t elaborate on what kind of riders might end up in the appropriations measures.
Democrats in the House and Senate have already pledged to vote against bills that include policy riders, and President Obama is likely to veto bills that contain extraneous provisions.
But Ryan’s conservative flank is likely to insist on adding riders to the spending bills, including language that would strip federal dollars from Planned Parenthood, a women’s health organization that provides abortions.
Congress has only a few weeks to come up with written spending legislation that adheres to the budget agreement President Obama signed into law on Monday. A stop gap law that is keeping the government funded expires on Dec. 11.
“We have a tough deadline,” Ryan acknowledged. “Not a lot of time between now and then.”
