President Donald Trump has worked with House Republicans on clean, continuing resolutions (CRs) to give his administration time to advance his agenda, and his outreach appears to be at work.
Conservatives at the House Republican Congress have long wandered into the CRS, mainly because they don't offer opportunities for cuts.
But Trump's seriousness in spending cuts revealed through his government efficiency (DOGE) appears to outweigh House Republicans.
Doge Head Elon Musk “pointed out that we were all pointing out waste, fraud and abuse that we all thought were there. We all knew we were there, but no one revealed that,” Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD) said Thursday at the White House after meeting with Trump, celebrating the president's commitment to reducing spending and reducing transparent government.
House Freedom Caucus chair Harris was part of a group of conservatives both inside and outside the Freedom Caucus who met with Trump on government spending that expires on March 14th.
Trump and conservatives in the House “we had constructive, consensus-before and consensus debate on how to responsibly fund the federal government before the deadline,” a familiar person told Breitbart News.
Trump has made his pitches in person and over the phone, explaining how CR fits into his wider agenda.
“I will work with great House Republicans on an ongoing resolution to fund the government until September, giving them the time they need to tackle our agenda,” Trump said. Posted True Social Tuesday.
“Conservatives will love this bill because this year we are setting it up to reduce the tax and spending of the settlement while still being able to continue working. Very important – let's complete this bill!”
Chip Roy, one of Congress' most enthusiastic spending hawks, told reporters:
There is overwhelming support for the president's agenda and… Elon Musk and Doge give room for it to be. [Director] Russ Vert [the Office of Management and Budget]to stream [for] Find and recognize the Americans and the cuts that need to occur.
He added that Republicans can support clean CRs and “ensure that they can support what the president's agenda is and reduce spending while ensuring that there is room for economic prosperity.”
Congress has a full plate to work to create budget adjustment packages to unlock Trump's legislative agenda. Reconciliation is a way to advance borders, energy, defense, and tax policies. This includes tax cuts in 2017 for permanent Trump, which expires this year.
“The key is that the agenda that America votes on will not be slow,” Sen. Scott Perry, former chairman of the Freedom Caucus, told reporters. “Our colleagues on the other side of the aisle are literally praying for a shutdown to stop the momentum of what the president's agenda is and what the American agenda is.”
By handing out the clean CR, Perry said Republicans could “seek us to keep flat spending and keep identifying waste, fraud and abuse in the government and then tee up what is a settlement.”
The administration cannot spend more than what is appropriate through the power of the wallet, but many conservatives argue that the president can spend under its ceiling through his storage authorities.
Roy argued that Trump could use his reservoir authority to spend less money than CR would be appropriate.
“The president cannot spend on that number, but the president can use reservoirs and use the power of the government as chief executive and spend what he thinks is appropriate on behalf of the taxpayer,” Roy said.
“We support that power,” he added. “We use that power to support Las Vault, so we want to make sure he has room for the American people to do what they ask of him.”
Trump and his allies will continue to lobby ahead of next week's predicted CR vote.
But the developments in their debate, especially with the conservatives with the bona fides of unquestionable spending, mark the dawn of the President's new territory of trust from Congress on spending.
Bradley Jaye is the Associate Politics Editor for Breitbart News. Follow him X/Twitter and Instagram @Bradleyajaye.
