Senate fiscal hawks make their demands in spending talks with Thune

EXCLUSIVE — Fiscal hawks are laying out to Senate leadership what it would take for them to drop their objections to a spending bill appropriators hope to begin moving in the coming days.

Sens. Mike Lee (R-UT) and Rick Scott (R-FL) met with Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) on Wednesday toward the tail end of Republicans’ conference lunch about the minibus, a package of appropriations bills that would fund the Pentagon and other federal agencies.