Speaker Kevin McCarthy and his allies met with members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus ahead of a two-week recess to discuss their strategy for funding the government, as negotiations over appropriations bills loom large over the next month.
The meeting came after members of the Freedom Caucus have upended the speaker’s agenda over the last few weeks, and ahead of a series of critical votes this summer and fall to keep the government funded. McCarthy is trying to keep his conference in line amid a disagreement over spending levels within his own party and with the Senate.
“We got to start at the beginning. So it’s walking people through what’s an appropriate amount as the other ones get marked up,” McCarthy said. “Greater input, greater conversations, the more knowledge the better off we are, the better chance we have of passing it. So that’s what the meeting is today too.”
The California Republican noted that they also planned several meetings for recess.
“We’re going to break here from being in DC for two weeks,” he said. “So I didn’t want people to just go away. So we were setting up different meetings that we have in those two weeks talking about more approps and laying them out, what’s in it right now.”
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, a Louisiana Republican, said the focus of the meeting Friday was on figuring out how Republicans can work together to vote the six appropriations bills that have already passed in committee on the floor. Scalise predicted there could be hundreds of amendments as part of this process and there will have to be an effort made by Republicans to come together.
Leadership is hoping to move the bills as soon as July when they return. It’s crucial to start sooner rather than later because it could take weeks to pass the bills on the floor. McCarthy has just a narrow…
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