Senate Republicans are signaling that they’re in no mood to back conservative members of the House Freedom Caucus who are demanding major concessions from Democrats in the annual spending bills, raising the odds of a government shutdown this fall.
Senate Republicans stood firmly behind Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) earlier this year when he demanded spending cuts and other reforms in exchange for raising the nation’s debt limit.
But with the battle for future control of the Senate heating up, Senate sources say House Republicans shouldn’t expect the same support for their efforts to lower the top-line annual discretionary spending number from the level agreed to by McCarthy and President Biden in late May.
Nor will House conservatives get much help from Senate Republican leaders on insisting that ambitious conservative priorities, such as the House-passed Secure the Border Act, be attached to spending legislation.