Freedom Caucus leader backs Senate deal to end government shutdown, with one exception

SPECIAL: The leader of the House’s most conservative caucus is tentatively endorsing the Senate’s bipartisan agreement to end the government shutdown.

House Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris, R-Md., told Fox News Digital that he was in favor of supporting the legislation, but added that he was still reviewing its final details.

“I’ll probably vote ‘yes’ as it’s formatted right now,” Harris said.

He said “a warning” came from Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky. He added that there was pressure from to scrap a measure in the bill on the sale of certain “intoxicating cannabis supplies”.

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“If that provision is removed, then … I cannot support the bill,” Harris said. “We must close the loophole in the 2018 Farm Bill that allows hemp-derived products to be sold with intoxicating levels of THC. In many states, they are even being sold to children. We must reverse this.”

The Senate ended a weeks-long government funding impasse Sunday night. Eight Democrats joined all Republicans except Paul to tackle filibuster in the updated spending bill.

It’s possible the Senate could reach a unanimous agreement to quickly move forward on the legislation, but all eyes are on Paul to see if he will drag out the process to protest the hemp provision.

But overall, Harris said the legislative package “looks pretty positive” from what she’s seen so far; He noted that the rest of the right-wing House GOP caucus likely feels the same.

“We’re still unpacking the entire package, but with this exception: [reversal of federal layoffs]I think members view the rest of the package quite positively,” Harris said.

Senator Jeanne Shaheen speaks at a news conference with other Senate Democrats who voted to restore government funding on November 9, 2025, in Washington. (Nathan Posner/Anatolia via Getty Images)

Terms of the deal include a new extension of fiscal year 2025 federal funding levels through Jan. 30 to give congressional negotiators more time to reach a longer-term agreement on fiscal year 2026 spending.

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This would also give lawmakers some progress on that mission and advance legislation that would provide funding for the Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration; Department of Veterans Affairs and military construction; and the legislature.

These are three of 12 separate bills intended to meet Congress’ annual appropriations and are paired with a vehicle called a “van.”

In a victory for Democrats, the deal would also reverse federal layoffs carried out by the Trump administration in October, and those workers would be paid for the time they were furloughed.

It also guarantees Senate Democrats a vote on legislation to expand Obamacare subsidies developed during the COVID-19 pandemic, which expires at the end of this year.

Extending increased subsidies for Obamacare, also known as the Affordable Care Act (ACA), was a key demand for Democrats in the weeks-long impasse.

The House Freedom Caucus speaks about negotiations on “one, big, beautiful bill” at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on May 21, 2025. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

But no such guarantee was given in the House, so Democrats effectively pushed ahead with their core demand to end the shutdown; It was a move that infuriated progressives in Congress.

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Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has said both publicly and privately that he will not promise Democrats a vote on improved Obamacare subsidies in the House in exchange for their support.

Harris told Fox News Digital that she does not believe such a vote would pass the House or Senate.

“I don’t think it’s possible for COVID-era extensions to go through both rooms,” he said, specifically referring to “clean, straight extensions.”