Vice President J.D. Vance urged House Republicans to support an upcoming government funding patch to prevent any derailment of the White House’s agenda, but some lawmakers still remained on the fence.
Mr. Vance met with the House GOP in a closed-door meeting on Tuesday, hours before lawmakers were expected to vote on the funding extension, known as a continuing resolution or CR, that would extend government funding to Sept. 30, or the rest of the fiscal year.
Republicans leaving the meeting relayed that the vice president stressed that while CRs are an often unsavory pill to swallow, the measure released over the weekend would let the Trump administration plow forward with its agenda without a costly, partial government shutdown.
Rep. Brandon Gill, Texas Republican, told The Washington Times that one of the issues Mr. Vance broached was that President Trump “inherited a pretty tough economic situation and government funding situation.”
“We’ve got to play our hand, play the hand that we were dealt,” Mr. Gill said. “They just got into office. The president is like, [51] days or whatever into his term, and we’ve got to allow them to continue doing the good work that they’re doing without shutting the government down.”
Still, some House Republicans weren’t convinced by the vice president’s plea to support the measure. House Speaker Mike Johnson, Louisiana Republican, can’t afford any other defections from his plan to pass the bill with only Republican votes after Rep. Thomas Massie, Kentucky Republican, vowed to vote against it.
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A handful of House Republicans, including Reps. Rich McCormick of Georgia and Kat Cammack of Florida, were still on the fence following the meeting.
Ms. Cammack said she was “undecided, but looking forward to the conversations with the White House today,” while Mr. McCormick said he needed assurances on issues in the 99-page bill and expected to field numerous calls before the vote later Tuesday.
“I don’t think we did our job this time,” he said.
Typically, Mr. Johnson has had to rely on Democratic votes to pass previous stopgap bills, and in some cases more Democrats than Republicans were needed to ensure a funding extension was passed. But this time House Democratic leadership is pressing its members to vote against the bill.
Following the meeting, the speaker was confident he could pass this funding extension with only Republican votes and admonished Democrats for their firm opposition against the plan.
“They’re wandering in the wilderness and they’re cursing the sky at the same time,” Mr. Johnson said. “You’re going to see that today. They’re going to vote no, and they’re going to come out and try to pan it. They’re going to lie about it.”
Adding to his confidence was support from the House Freedom Caucus’ fiscal hawks, who often reject CRs because they act as a pathway to a colossal, catch-all spending package, known as an omnibus, or don’t cut any spending.
House Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Harris, Maryland Republican, made a surprise appearance during House Republican leadership’s press conference after the meeting to laud the bill.
He argued that this was the first CR he’d seen in his 14 years in Washington that didn’t act as a bridge to an omnibus spending bill, and it reduces spending.
“This is not your grandfather’s continuing resolution,” Mr. Harris said. “This is a different type of spending bill that I think is the way that we need to do in order to keep the Trump administration, Elon Musk and [the Department of Government Efficiency] to continue its promise to the American people to fight fraud, waste and abuse in the federal government and increase its efficiency.”
Freedom Caucus member Rep. Eric Burlison, Missouri Republican, was more tepid, saying the only reason he would vote yes was because the president endorsed the plan.
“He is the difference maker,” Mr. Burlison said. “I would never support this language, but I do trust Donald Trump.”
