The House of Representatives Freedom Caucus is one of the most powerful blocs of Republican representatives and one of its key members, Representative Mark Meadows, is predicting that the party will not be able to fulfill its mission to fund the government prior to the January 19 deadline.
Meaowing to CNBC, Meadows explained that the House would likely come up short when it comes to proposing a government funding package.
“The question is whether or not in the House, can we pass a funding vehicle related to the president’s border wall,” he said. “I don’t think it’s going to get the votes, so I think we’ll be short.”
Meadows made it clear that differences between the two houses of Congress were standing in the way of achieving the mission.
“The challenge in the House is to try to combine a Senate bill that isn’t completely supported in the House and to couple it with some House request that would fund the wall that wouldn’t accomplish it in the Senate anyways — that is the challenge,” Meadows said.
The government funding deadline is rapidly approaching and the main issues that the party is clashing over are among others, the funding for President Trump’s border wall and the Shoulder Responsibility and Working Age Act (SRW).
Meadows also clarified that although there is no conclusive answer as of yet, he believes that the only viable solution is for a compromise to be put in place in the Senate.
“The compromise has to happen in the Senate, because the House has essentially already voted for what it wants to fund, whether that is the wall, the SRW Act or the other appropriations items in it,” he said.
The Freedom Caucus’ stance on these issues has been a major factor in the lack of progress being made on the government funding issue. The main principle of the caucus is limited government and lower taxes, and they are taking a hardline stance against increased government spending.
As the January 19 deadline approaches, it is clear that the path to government funding will not be an easy one. With so many issues at stake, getting to a consensus within the party is becoming more difficult than ever before. If Meadows’ predictions turn out to be true, the party will fail to meet its goal and the government may once again be on the brink of a shutdown.