Trump Gets Surprise Visit At WH After Last Night’s Speech
A group of conservative lawmakers from the House of Representatives is set to meet at the White House on Wednesday to explore strategies for preventing a potential government shutdown.
“It’s a meeting with the House Freedom Caucus leadership, and then a few of the people who philosophically share our feelings about the fiscal situation,” explained House Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris, R-Md., in an interview with Fox News Digital. “And we’re going to hear what the president has to say.”
House Republicans, after some internal disagreements, began advancing President Trump’s policy agenda using the budget reconciliation process. According to Fox News, another internal battle over federal spending is expected to emerge soon.
Since the fiscal year kicked off on October 1, 2024, lawmakers have twice postponed serious negotiations about funding the government for fiscal year 2025. To buy time, they passed a continuing resolution, a short-term funding tool that temporarily maintains current spending levels.
If Congress does not act by March 14, the federal government could face a partial shutdown under Trump’s presidency. To prevent that scenario, Republicans are pushing to pass yet another continuing resolution, extending funding through the rest of fiscal year 2025.
However, Democrats are insisting that any deal must include safeguards to ensure Trump won’t spend below the levels Congress sets—an ongoing sticking point that has kept both sides from finding common ground.
Every continuing resolution passed since Republicans gained control of the House in January 2023 has required Democratic support to clear the chamber. On top of that, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has such a razor-thin majority that losing even a handful of GOP votes could jeopardize any plan that doesn’t attract bipartisan backing.
On this matter, Trump has urged Republicans to approve a “clean” extension that keeps funding at last year’s levels through the fiscal year’s end.
GOP leaders are hoping this approach will appeal to conservatives and others in their party who typically oppose continuing resolutions.
This is the main reason these lawmakers will gather at the White House on Wednesday.
“I’m hopeful we can get this off the ground,” Harris noted. “But, again, it’s going to involve all hands on deck in the Republican conference in the House.”
Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., another Freedom Caucus member known for voting against continuing resolutions, indicated that he might consider supporting this particular plan.
Norman, who will attend Wednesday’s White House meeting, said Trump’s push to eliminate government waste might give fiscal conservatives like himself a reason to reconsider their opposition.
“I will be part of the group, and we’ll be talking with the president,” Norman said. “It’s real important to keep his momentum going. It’s a new day with the DOGE cuts. (Continuing resolutions) a lot of us don’t like. We haven’t voted for them in the past. Today is different, and I think we’ll pass the vote.”
“If we have to get Democrats, that’s not a good sign. And I don’t think we have to, nor should we. And there’s no one better to sell a program or a point of view than Donald Trump.”
Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, has also expressed support for Trump’s approach to the continuing resolution, though it was not immediately clear whether he would participate in the meeting.
As the House Freedom Caucus’ policy director, Roy has often acted as a bridge between GOP leadership and the most hardline conservatives in the House Republican Conference.
“I have publicly said that I’m happy to support the president’s request to have a (continuing resolution) the next six months, provided that it’s clean, provided that it is at current levels or below,” Roy stated. “I’m not going to talk about private meetings and what I’ve been invited to, but let’s say I’m in close contact with the White House.”