House conservatives may demand infrastructure spending in a new short-term spending bill Congress will have to pass next week to avert a partial government shutdown.
House and Senate lawmakers must clear the fifth stop-gap measure in fiscal year 2018 to keep the government funded after Feb. 8, when a current measure expires.
Increasingly wary of short-term bills, the most conservative faction in the House conference may seek a provision that would allow an increase in domestic spending demanded by Democrats if the money is dedicated to rebuilding the nation’s infrastructure.
“That is at least something that has been discussed,” Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., said Tuesday. “That would be in keeping not only with the president’s agenda, but with what we know is going to be spent over the next ten years, which is at least an additional $200 billion on infrastructure.”
Meadows heads the House Freedom Caucus comprised of about three dozen Republicans. The group has mostly supplied the votes for the recent string of short-term bills, known as continuing resolutions, but won’t yet commit to backing the next spending bill.
“I think the sense is we are probably going to have a short-term CR,” Meadows said Tuesday. “The question is: What is attached to it?”
Congress has relied on passing short-term funding measures because the two parties have failed to strike a deal on lifting federally imposed spending caps. Republicans want to lift defense spending caps beyond domestic spending, but Democrats are insisting on an equal increase for non-defense programs.
Meadows said his infrastructure proposal would allow domestic spending to rise, but would dedicate most of the money to roads and bridges.
“So it actually goes to everybody’s district,” Meadows said.
Meadows would not say whether his faction of conservatives would block a spending bill that did not include the infrastructure money, or some other concession to the Freedom Caucus, but he downplayed the possibility that the spending bill would stall.
“I don’t think there will be a shutdown,” Meadows said.
Spending will be among the topics at the House and Senate Republicans’ retreat at a West Virginia resort, which begins on Wednesday and lasts through Friday.
Meadows said the GOP “will have some real discussions” over how to break the cycle of passing only short-term spending bills.
“Obviously that will be a topic of conversation,” Meadows said. “I’m looking forward to perhaps this being the biggest working retreat we’ve had since I’ve been in Congress.”
