House Freedom Caucus Chair Scott Perry (R-Pa.) indicated Wednesday that the hard-line conservative group is easing up on demands for steeper cuts to government spending.
Perry told reporters that the spending levels agreed to as part of the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA), the debt limit deal brokered between President Biden and then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) earlier this year that included budget caps, have “to be the limit” in talks.
He also acknowledged the lower levels previously sought by the caucus aren’t achievable, after House Republicans faced internal clashes on funding legislation amid a push by the right flank for steeper cuts.
“It’s still too much for many of us, but [what] was agreed to around Memorial Day was this FRA number of $1.59 trillion. No more gimmicks: Most of the House voted for it; most of the Senate voted for it. That’s where we have to be,” he said.
“Let’s write the appropriations bills. Let’s get the spending bills right,” he said. “Let’s set that as the number, and then when we do that, let’s start conferencing bills.”
Pressed further about the $1.47 trillion top-line number that hard-line conservatives previously pushed for, Perry said members realized that “is not going to happen” and that $1.59 trillion “has to be