Republican lawmakers are warning their colleagues in the House Freedom Caucus to not even think about leveraging next month’s funding deadline to threaten a government shutdown to win legislative priorities from GOP leaders.
“They have to work with somebody to keep the government open,” Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., said about the roughly 30 conservatives who make up the caucus. “Shutting down the government when it’s a Republican government and a Republican Congress is not an option.”
After enough conservatives defected on Republicans’ healthcare bill to force House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., to jettison a planned vote on it, their colleagues are warily looking ahead to April 28. That is when the government will run out of money to keep running.
“If we shut the government down and we’re in total control of the government, I think that the result of that would speak for itself,” Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Fla., said. “I mean, that is ridiculous. Hopefully we won’t go there; hopefully we find a way around that … and not get tripped up by these things that seem to happen every year.”
The Freedom Caucus rejected funding levels hammered out by President Obama and then-House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, in 2011, forcing an 11th-hour scramble to keep the lights on. In 2013 they refused to back off and the government did close for two weeks. In both cases, Republicans bore the brunt of the blame in voters’ eyes.
“So if you can come to the table, great,” Cole said. “If you can’t, then don’t be surprised if the train moves in another direction; because it has to.”
President Trump could spend his milestone 100th day in office, which is April 29, warring with fellow Republicans over spending levels.
