WASHINGTON _ The conservative House Freedom Caucus can't stop the three-month debt-limit extension deal President Donald Trump reached with Democrats, the group's chairman said Thursday at a Bloomberg News breakfast.
The deal puts Republicans in a poor negotiating position in December when government spending and the debt limit would be set to expire, Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows, a North Carolina Republican, said in a separate Bloomberg TV interview.
"No way the president will be negotiating from a position of strength in December," Meadows said, while predicting there won't be a government shutdown at the end of the year.
During an Oval Office meeting Wednesday, Trump accepted a proposal by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York and his House counterpart, Nancy Pelosi of California, to tie a three-month suspension of the debt limit to a Hurricane Harvey relief measure _ and throw in a stopgap continuing resolution to fund the government into December. The agreement leaves fellow Republicans _ who control both houses of Congress _ reeling and lawmakers bracing for a bruising battle in December.
"Everybody's surprised" about the three-month deal on the debt ceiling, Meadows said at the breakfast. "It's not something that any of us advocated for."
"We're being dictated terms and conditions by Democrats while they are in the minority," another Freedom Caucus member, Representative Warren Davidson of Ohio, said at the breakfast.
Freedom Caucus members also complained that Republican leaders lacked a clear plan on dealing with the debt limit.
"I was not aware of any plan," Meadows said. "In fact, I was not aware of any substantial conversations among rank and file members."
"Hope is not a plan," added Ohio Representative Jim Jordan, a founder and former chairman of the group. "What is the plan for tax reform" such as tax brackets, he asked.
One good outcome of the surprise agreement is that Trump is "myopically focused" on getting a tax-overhaul deal, Meadows said.
Trump's legislative director, Marc Short, told reporters the three-month deal was intended to "clear the decks" for a tax overhaul.
Senate Republicans released a new version of a Harvey aid bill late Wednesday that included the debt-ceiling extension and would fund the government through Dec. 8. It also would nearly double disaster funding to $15.25 billion from what the House passed earlier in the day. The additional funding would to address housing needs in disaster zones.
