President Trump met Wednesday with members of the House Freedom Caucus to discuss unifying around a plan for a continuing resolution to keep the government open ahead of a looming shutdown deadline.
House conservatives emerged from a meeting at the White House and signaled confidence that they would support a continuing resolution (CR) once it is finalized.
“We had a great meeting with the president. The group of conservatives in the office with him all want to support the president’s agenda, and we’re going to work toward getting that continuing resolution in the form where we can pass it, just like we did last week,” House Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Harris (R-Md.) told reporters at the White House, referencing the House GOP passage of a budget resolution to advance Trump’s agenda.
“To all the people that said you can never pass that reconciliation bill with only Republican votes, wait ’til next week,” Harris said. “We get another chance with the year-long CR.”
Harris noted House lawmakers are still waiting to see the final text of a continuing resolution.
Trump in recent days had urged Republican lawmakers to pass a CR to fund the government through the rest of the fiscal year, which runs through the end of September. Government funding runs out March 14.
For years, members of the House Freedom Caucus have reliably voted “no” on stopgaps and other spending measures that do not codify their priorities, railing against leaders for failing to approve appropriations bills on time.
This time, they have signaled an openness to doing so, arguing it would help Trump’s agenda. They also pointed to efforts by Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to identify government spending deemed wasteful that does not align with the administration’s priorities.
Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) told reporters at the White House that there is “overwhelming support” among House conservatives to give room to Musk and White House budget director Russ Vought to identify “cuts that need to occur.”
Roy also argued for freezing spending at current levels to “hold spending in check while we identify those cuts, which keep coming out.”
