Republican Maryland Rep. Andy Harris, chairman of the House Freedom Caucus (HFC), is rallying support for a government funding plan backed by President Donald Trump that aims to avert a partial government shutdown scheduled for after midnight on March 14.
Trump and House GOP leadership have endorsed a six-month extension of government funding, known as a continuing resolution (CR), which would maintain government operations at current levels for the remainder of the fiscal year. HFC members, including Harris, are backing the measure, citing Trump’s argument that passing the CR would freeze government spending levels and allow Republicans to focus on advancing his legislative agenda for the first year, the Daily Caller reported.
HFC members and other conservative fiscal hawks typically oppose continuing resolutions (CRs) on the grounds that short-term funding bills do not include spending cuts necessary to reduce the deficit. About 34 House Republicans, including Harris and other Freedom Caucus members, voted against a GOP leadership-backed CR on December 20, which funded the government through March 14 during the final weeks of the Biden administration.
Trump met with House Freedom Caucus members, including Harris, at the White House on Wednesday to gauge their support for backing a CR. While many fiscal hawks are waiting to review the CR text before committing to vote “yes” on the bill, Harris told the Daily Caller News Foundation in an interview that he is confident the majority of House Republicans will ultimately support the passage of a short-term funding measure.
“The President made his case for how this [continuing resolution] was essential to him delivering his agenda for the American people,” Harris told the DCNF on Thursday. “There are still a few of us who want to see the actual language of the seat of the continuing resolution — to see what the anomalies are going to be in the continuing resolution — but I believe they will come to a similar conclusion that although we don’t like continuing resolutions, we don’t think that’s how the government should operate, this is a very unusual circumstance where the Democrats appear willing to shut the government down.”
Although Speaker Mike Johnson has relied on Democratic votes to pass every continuing resolution (CR) since the GOP assumed control of the House in January 2023, House Democrats may band together to vote “no” on a CR that Johnson is expected to present early next week. With the House holding a narrow 218-214 majority, Johnson will need the support of most of the House Republican conference to pass the measure, the outlet reported.
