The House Freedom Caucus and House Speaker Paul Ryan continue to spar over year-end spending; Freedom Caucus chairman Mark Meadows (R-NC) wants to ensure that the government funding does not include Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) amnesty.
Freedom Caucus chairman Mark Meadows and other conservatives want to push the deadline for government funding from December 22 to December 30 because Meadows argues that congressmen would remain more likely to vote for DACA amnesty and an Obamacare stabilization bill before the Christmas break.
Meadows explained, “Does anything good happen a couple days before Christmas? Nothing good happens just a few days before Christmas. We are advocating, if there has to be a CR [continuing resolution], it should come due after Christmas.”
The Freedom Caucus nearly blocked a motion to have the House and the Senate go into recess on Monday to negotiate the differences between the House and the Senate tax bills.
“I felt very good about the dialogue I had with the speaker,” Meadows suggested after he negotiated with Speaker Ryan regarding the year-end spending bill.
The House Rules Committee revealed on Tuesday that they will delay consideration of the year-end spending bill to continue negotiating with the Freedom Caucus, the Republican Study Committee (RSC), and the Republican leadership.
Speaker Ryan told reporters on Tuesday, “The point is we’re having the kind of family discussion that we need to have about how to proceed forward with a majority.”
Congressman Dave Brat (R-VA) told reporters on Tuesday that the Republican leadership committed to not relying on Democrat votes to pass the House’s spending bill, which would decrease pressure to include provisions for DACA amnesty and Obamacare stabilization.
House RSC chairman Mark Walker (R-NC) told reporters that he remains willing to negotiate on a bill that would fund the government until December 22.
“So we’ll see how that happens or lays out today, and then get the tally and see if that’s the will of the conference,” Walker stated.
Congress will still have to pass a government funding bill through the Senate, which still requires 60 votes and, subsequently, eight Democrat votes.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) pulled out of a meeting at the White House in November after President Donald Trump tweeted that he did not “see a deal.”
Chuck Schumer said on the Senate Floor on Tuesday, “If they cooperate with Democrats they can accomplish something. To just let the Freedom Caucus dictate [is] a recipe for chaos.”
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