Credit: Architect of the Capitol(WASHINGTON) — After an afternoon of frantic negotiations, House Republicans are on the verge of having the votes to pass their short-term funding fix.
Rep Mark Meadows, the chair of the Conservative Freedom Caucus, has come around after he was promised concessions, including a possible vote on military readiness.
“Obviously I would be recommending to our caucus based on what i just heard that we support the president in this particular initiative,” he just told us.
The president has been increasingly engaged in talks. Meadows confirmed to ABC News’ John Parkinson that the president called into a Freedom Caucus Meeting Thursday afternoon to negotiate, but the Congressman would not discuss the details.
Meadows and other conservatives originally opposed the CR because of objections over military funding, and said they were fed up with all these short-term solutions. They also want a vote on a conservative immigration reform bill in the House.
But now, according to Meadows, the Speaker “put forth a few things for our caucus to consider that would actually be beneficial to the military and our focus on the military needs going forward.”
Even if the CR passes in the House, it does not appear to have a path forward in the Senate.
According to a top Democratic aide, Democrats now have enough votes to block the short-term funding bill in the Senate and prevent Republicans from keeping the government open.
GOP leaders are still planning to hold this vote in the House, in an effort to force Democrats’ hand in the Senate.
“They’re trying to get us to fall on our faces in the House so they don’t have to cast a vote,” House GOP Chief Deputy Whip Patrick McHenry, R-North Carolina, told reporters just now. “They’re going to get the opportunity to cast that vote.”
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