House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said Sunday he would like to see Congress pass a short-term funding bill, but one that does not extend to the holiday season.
Saying he did not believe Congress would have enough time to pass all the needed appropriations bills by Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year, McCarthy suggested a short-term continuing resolution to avoid a government shutdown.
But the speaker said the resolution should not extend to the holiday season, when lawmakers often feel pressure to give in. He wants just enough time so appropriations can be negotiated and agreed upon.
"I want to make sure we're able to set this where it's not by a holiday, that it's just enough time that, if we can do more of our work, that we could be in conference with the Senate," McCarthy said on Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures."
"I would give us a short-term because Washington only works on deadline. Give us that short-term deadline that makes our policies strong, that we have been able to pass them ... and makes a stronger argument in committee to remove the [former House Speaker Nancy] 'Pelosi policies.'"
McCarthy earlier this month told the Republican conference that the House likely will need to pass a short-term resolution to keep the government open past the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30.
House conservatives are seeking to cut federal spending as lawmakers struggle to come to an agreement over appropriations levels.
The House Freedom Caucus last week declared on social media site X that it will oppose any stopgap government funding bill that doesn't include border policy measures and fails to address Department of Justice and "woke" military policies.
"I would actually like to have a short-term CR, only to make our arguments stronger, because ... if we shut down, all the government shuts it down, investigation and everything else. It hurts the American public," McCarthy said. "But if we're able to pass our appropriation bills, we're in a stronger position to remove those, those 'Pelosi policies' that are locked into law right now: the wokism, the overspending, the nonsecurity of this border."
The speaker told Fox he wants to go into the spending debate with the "strongest hand."
"Because over in the Senate, I'm sorry, the Republicans and Democrats are voting 97% to spend even higher than what our debt ceiling agreement agreed to," McCarthy said.
House GOP leaders can risk only a handful of votes in their slim majority before relying on Democrat support to pass any bills.