House Freedom Caucus Backs Year-Long Funding Bill, Setting Up Rift with GOP Leaders

The House Freedom Caucus said Tuesday it supports a continuing resolution that would extend government funding through November 2026, or possibly later — a move that immediately set up a confrontation with GOP leadership and complicated efforts to end the ongoing government shutdown.

The proposal, which conservatives are calling a “yearlong short-term bill,” would effectively postpone deeper spending debates until after the 2026 midterms. Its endorsement underscores the widening rift between House hardliners and Republican leaders, who have been negotiating a shorter funding extension to reopen the government.

🚨 House Freedom Caucus Releases Official Position Endorsing Longer-Term CR to Control Spending and Block Omnibus 🚨

The House Freedom Caucus voted unanimously with our fellow Republicans in support of President Trump to fund the government through November 20, 2025.

Over a…

— House Freedom Caucus (@freedomcaucus) November 4, 2025

“We’ve accommodated a lot of their questions and concerns,” said Senate Majority Leader John Thune, referring to Democrats’ negotiating demands. “They want to have a discussion about health care — we offered that up a long time ago. I’ve talked repeatedly about having a normal appropriations process… But I’m still at a loss as to what it is exactly they’re trying to get out of this.”
(abcnews.com)

Deadline Shift Looms as Shutdown Hits Record Length

The current continuing resolution deadline of November 21 “no longer makes a lot of sense,” Thune said, noting that both chambers are weighing a new target date — likely December or January.

“Clearly it would have to be extended,” Thune said. “And there is a conversation around what that next deadline would be.”

The government shutdown, now in its 35th day, has tied the record for the longest in U.S. history. Without a deal this week, it will surpass the 2018–2019 shutdown that stretched 35 days during Trump’s first term.

Thune urged lawmakers to find common ground:

“‘Shutdowns are stupid,’” he said. “I’ve been here long enough to have been through a few of them. Nobody wins. The American people ought to hold us all accountable.”

Senate Republicans to Meet Trump at White House

Adding to the day’s drama, all Senate Republicans have been invited to the White House for breakfast Wednesday morning, officials confirmed to ABC News. The meeting — scheduled for 8 a.m. — will take place just as the shutdown officially breaks the record for the longest in U.S. history.
(punchbowl.news, abcnews.com)

Trump last hosted Senate Republicans at the White House on October 21, when they left with what attendees jokingly called “swag bags.” Tomorrow’s gathering, aides said, will focus on the path forward for reopening the government and GOP unity amid mounting political fallout.

Analysis: A Party Divided by Strategy, Not Goals

The Freedom Caucus’ endorsement of a long-term stopgap highlights a paradox in GOP strategy: conservatives pushing for less compromise are now advocating a measure that effectively extends the status quo for another year or more.

For Republican leaders like Thune and Speaker Mike Johnson, the challenge is twofold — reopening the government quickly while managing internal divisions over what a continuing resolution should achieve.

Democrats, meanwhile, continue to tie their demands to healthcare provisions and funding for expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies, arguing that reopening the government without such measures would betray core promises.

Bottom Line

The House Freedom Caucus’s endorsement of a yearlong continuing resolution has deepened the GOP’s internal divide just as the shutdown reaches historic length. With Senate Republicans heading to the White House for a Wednesday breakfast and new funding deadlines under discussion, the question isn’t just when the government will reopen — but how much longer Washington can afford to wait.