By Adam Pack via Daily Caller News Foundation | March 06, 2025
Republican Maryland Rep. Andy Harris, chairman of the House Freedom Caucus (HFC), is whipping support for a government funding plan backed by President Donald Trump that would avert a partial government shutdown set to occur 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), that would fund government operations at current levels through the remainder of the fiscal year. HFC members including Harris are getting behind the funding measure, citing Trump’s argument that passage of the CR allows congressional Republicans to freeze government spending levels and prioritize passing his first-year legislative agenda.
HFC members and other conservative fiscal hawks usually oppose CRs on the principle that short-term funding bills lack spending cuts to achieve deficit reduction. Approximately 34 House Republicans, including Harris and other Freedom Caucus members, voted against a GOP leadership-backed CR during the last weeks of the Biden administration on Dec. 20 that funded the government through March 14.
Trump met with House Freedom Caucus members, including Harris, at the White House Wednesday to gauge their support on backing a CR. Though many fiscal hawks are waiting to see 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 that 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.”
Though Speaker Mike Johnson has relied in part on Democratic votes to pass every CR since the GOP took control of the House in January 2023, House Democrats may unite in voting “no” on a CR that the speaker is expected to bring to the floor early next week. Johnson will need the majority of the House Republican conference on board given their slim 218-214 majority.
Democratic lawmakers have signaled they could vote against a government funding bill due to their fierce opposition to the president’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and Elon Musk.
“At some point you’ve got to have a goddamn backbone,” a senior Democratic lawmaker told POLITICO. ” I am not giving them a blank check until September.”
Republican Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie, who frequently votes against government spending bills and opposed the GOP budget resolution that narrowly passed the House on Feb. 25, has already announced he will vote “no” on a CR.
Harris is optimistic that enough GOP fiscal hawks will come on board to pass a CR along party lines if necessary, citing the GOP budget resolution’s inclusion of a $4 trillion debt ceiling hike, which many speculated could not pass the House without support from House Democrats.
“Last week, people said we could never pass a debt ceiling increase with only Republican votes, given the circumstances that the president wanted it,” Harris told the DCNF.
The HFC chairman also defended his support for a CR in light of DOGE’s cuts and the ongoing work of Elon Musk to find savings to reduce the deficit.
“The President wants to continue the work of DOGE and Elon Musk and efficiently rooting out fraud, waste and abuse in the federal government,” Harris added. “The role Congress has to play is to keep the government open so that DOGE can continue to operate and find the areas of waste, fraud and abuse once they have gone through the government.”
Harris says Congress should seek to codify DOGE spending cuts during the fiscal year 2026 appropriations process.
Senate Republicans, including Budget Committee chairman Lindsey Graham, pushed Musk to come up with a rescission package that would allow Congress to rescind allocated funds by a simple majority vote in both chambers, during a Senate GOP luncheon with Musk Wednesday. Harris was open to a rescission package when asked by the DCNF.
Harris told the DCNF he doesn’t expect the upcoming CR to have any significant policy riders, but that it could have some “anomalies” such as appropriations for defense spending or border security. A continuing resolution for the rest of the fiscal year would cap spending at FY 2024 levels.
“Government funding runs out next week, and Democrats are threatening to shut down the Government – But I am working with the GREAT House Republicans on a Continuing Resolution to fund the Government until September to give us some needed time to work on our Agenda,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on March 5, urging GOP lawmakers to support a CR. “Conservatives will love this Bill, because it sets us up to cut Taxes and Spending in Reconciliation, all while effectively FREEZING Spending this year, and allowing us to continue our work to, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN. VERY IMPORTANT – Let’s get this Bill done!”
Adam Pack is a contributor to the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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