Spending skeptics rally behind Trump’s CR pitch as government shutdown looms

With a government shutdown looming over Congress, Republicans have largely united behind President Donald Trump and Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-La.) pitch to put through a clean continuing resolution.

Although the text for the CR has not been finalized, House Republicans have come out of closed-door meetings with a positive outlook.

As Blaze News first reported, fiscal conservatives and members of the House Freedom Caucus huddled with Director Russell Vought and other top Office of Management and Budget officials on Monday night, with one White House source in the room describing the meeting as “congenial.” The optimism carried through Wednesday afternoon when the same Republicans met with Trump to hear his pitch on a clean CR.

‘There is overwhelming support to back the president’s agenda to be able to advance and to be able to give room for DOGE and Elon Musk and to give room to Russ Vought and OMB to deliver to the American people.’

“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 said in a Truth Social post following the meeting.

“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,” Trump said. “VERY IMPORTANT – Let’s get this Bill done!”

The benefit of a clean CR is that it would continue Trump’s momentum, whereas a government shutdown would stifle it.

‘I will try to convince as many of my colleagues as possible that if this is the tool the president needs, we really have a once in a generation opportunity.’

“If [Trump] thinks that a clean CR, put that in air quotes, clean CR, is the way to go for the rest of the fiscal year … I’m all for it,” HFC Chairman Andy Harris (R-Md.) told Blaze News.

“It would be a heavy lift with some conservatives, that’s what they said about the budget resolution and the debt-ceiling increase. But, I think we can achieve this heavy lift,” Harris added. “It will take some work over the next week.”

To Harris’ point, passing a clean CR with such a slim Republican majority will likely be a heavy lift. With respect to reconciliation, Republicans could afford to lose only one vote, and yet, Johnson managed to pull it off.

“I will try to convince as many of my colleagues as possible that if this is the tool the president needs, we really have a ‘once in a generation’ opportunity,” Harris said. “We shouldn’t pass it up, because the alternative is to deal with the Democrats.”

Republican Rep. Chip Roy (Texas), another past CR skeptic, also came away from closed-door meetings with a positive outlook.

“There is overwhelming support to back the president’s agenda to be able to advance and to be able to give room for DOGE and Elon Musk and to give room to Russ Vought and OMB to deliver to the American people,” Roy said in a press gaggle Wednesday following the meeting with Trump.

Roy argued that a clean CR would freeze spending at current levels, “which is going to be able to make sure that we hold spending in check” while DOGE and its Capitol Hill allies continue identifying areas of fraud, waste, and abuse.

For other spending skeptics like Republican Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee, continuing DOGE-style cuts is a non-negotiable in order to secure their votes.

‘I’m looking at it in a favorable manner. But that doesn’t mean I’ll vote for it.’

Burchett, who has historically defected during spending fights, told Blaze News that so far, he is “not too inspired” by the Republicans’ pitch for a clean CR.

“If they would add the cuts from DOGE, all of them, I could lean in that direction,” Burchett told Blaze News. “We got elected to do some things, and DOGE is doing it. I think we ought to take that out for a vote and see what happens.”

But even with provisions to codify DOGE cuts, Burchett says it may not be enough to swing his vote in favor of the CR.

“I’m looking at it in a favorable manner,” Burchett told Blaze News about a DOGE-style CR. “But that doesn’t mean I’ll vote for it.”

Like with reconciliation, Republicans are operating with incredibly narrow margins. Johnson can afford to lose only one GOP vote, which is likely to be claimed by Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky. With the odds seemingly stacked against them, we will have to wait and see if Republicans can pull off another legislative miracle.

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