by Henry Rodgers
North Carolina Republican Rep. Mark Meadows and House Freedom Caucus members will vote “no” on a short-term funding bill that would fund the government until Feb. 8, as funding is set to expire Friday, The Daily Caller News Foundation has learned.
“The time to stand up for the American people and fight for wall funding is now. If the president vetoes a [continuing resolution (CR)] without wall funding, the American people and his allies in Congress will back him up. We’ll support him. The time to act is now. That’s why we were elected and it’s time we follow through,” Meadows, chairman of the congressional caucus, told the TheDCNF Thursday.
Meadows called out House Speaker Paul Ryan on the House floor Wednesday and said he would not be giving up on the border wall or the American people.
“The president many months ago said he wouldn’t sign another funding bill unless we gave him wall funding. So what did this House do? It passed a bill to fund the Department of Defense and passed a short-term CR and said, ‘You know what? We’re going to have that fight, but we’re going to have that fight after the midterms,'” Meadows said on the House floor. “You know what, Mr. Speaker? It’s after the midterms. And we’re here to say that we’re ready to fight on behalf of all the freedom-loving Americans to make sure we have secure borders.”
“Mr. President, we’re going to back you up. If you veto this bill we’ll be there. But more importantly, the American people will be there. They’ll be there to support you. Let’s build the wall and make sure that we do our job in Congress,” he continued.
Meadows and the conservative House Freedom Caucus will vote “no” on a funding bill as it does not include the $5 billion President Donald Trump and Republicans have been asking for. Other Republicans have reportedly said they are in favor of supporting the continuing resolution in order to avoid a government shutdown, saying they will work on funding after the holidays.
However, Meadows told TheDCNF Wednesday afternoon that he believes now is the “time to fight,” instead of accepting a bill that includes no wall funding.
“The bottom line is simple: it’s deeply irresponsible for this Congress to keep sending the president status quo funding bills, without any of his promises included, and essentially say ‘sign this, or shut down the government.’ The president doesn’t pass bills — that’s our job, and for Congress to surrender and accept defeat before the hard work even starts is wrong. The time to fight is now,” Meadows said to TheDCNF.
Funding for the government was set to expire Dec. 7. However, the House of Representatives passed a two-week resolution to avoid a government shutdown by unanimous consent in a voice vote, meaning members did not have to be present for the vote. The Senate, which is in session, then approved the bill, funding the government until Dec. 21.
If approved, the bill will fund the government until Feb. 8 and give both sides more time to work out their differences on the border wall. However, Democrats will maintain control of the House beginning Jan. 3.
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Henry Rodgers is a reporter for the Daily Caller News Foundation. Follow Henry Rodgers On Twitter.
Photo “Mark Meadows” by Gage Skidmore. CC BY-SA 2.0.
