As a government shutdown looms at the end of the week, Rep. Ben Cline, R-Va., told Newsmax on Monday that the House Freedom Caucus' goal is to end "wasteful spending" in Washington by holding the line on budget cuts.
"We're hoping to get several appropriations bills through, some of which spend more, like defense, but some of which spend less, like foreign operations," Cline said during an appearance on Newsmax's "The Record with Greta Van Susteren." "If we can get these conservative bills through as well, then there might be more of an appetite for a continuing resolution, but our request all along is that we spend less. We want to get rid of the woke and weaponized Pelosi-Biden spending spree and that's what we're holding our ground on in the Freedom Caucus."
Host Greta Van Susteren raised the possibility of school children who rely on government-funded hot meals not getting them if a government shutdown occurs. Cline said a "large portion of the federal government is effectively on autopilot" but conceded that there are "selective programs" that would "need to be looked at on a case by case basis." He said the Freedom Caucus is "willing to do that."
"But we want to see a change in attitude with regard to spending by this federal bureaucracy," he said. "We can't have the same trillion dollar deficits, the same $30+ trillion dollar debt continue to drive inflation up, increase prices at the grocery store, prices at the pump, and really hurting future generations of Americans. It's our hope that the administration would be able to take steps to mitigate some of the impact, but hopefully the Biden administration is wanting to avoid this as well."
"They are maximizing their political gain from the potential for any shutdown," Cline continued. "The rhetoric coming out of [White House press secretary] Karine Jean-Pierre and the White House is really pro-shutdown. They want to blame Republicans. They want to say that they want to continue their trillion dollar spending sprees and because Republicans are standing up for the American people and saying we can't continue to spend at these clips, we're the ones under attack."
When asked about the odds of a government shutdown, which would begin Sunday, Cline said, "I feel like we're making progress."
"There are a lot of conversations going on behind the scenes right now," he said. "The rules have passed for these four bills out of the Rules Committee, and I'm hopeful that they pass on the floor, but, as you saw last week, bills rise or fall on very thin margins right now. All of the Democrats are voting for shutdown. They don't want to fund these appropriations bills, they don't want to fund our soldiers, they don't want to fund our veterans, but we have five Republicans who maybe are going to decide, one way or the other, whether these rules are going to get passed or not."
About NEWSMAX TV:
NEWSMAX is the fastest-growing cable news channel in America!
Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.