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Article snippet: House Republican leaders have agreed to consider extending government funding until Dec. 30, rather than having it expire just days before Christmas, members of the far-right House Freedom Caucus said Monday. Leadership's initial plan to avoid a shutdown was to pass a two-week spending bill on Wednesday that would keep the government funded up to Dec. 22. Current funding for fiscal 2018 runs out Friday. But House Freedom Caucus members protested the plan and held up a Monday night vote to go to conference with the Senate on tax legislation until they received assurances from leadership that they would consider an alternative strategy. “I’m not saying there’s any commitment to do anything. I’m just saying there’s a commitment to talk further,” Rep. MORE (R-N.C.), chairman of the Freedom Caucus, told reporters after the vote. “And I feel very good about the dialogue that I had with the Speaker.” While the conservative bloc had originally pressed for a spending bill that stretches into January, the Dec. 30 date appears to be a compromise that could be more palatable to more moderate Republican members. But it's still unclear whether both chambers would be willing to go along with the idea. The issue will be posed to members during Tuesday morning's GOP conference meeting ahead of a House Rules Committee vote on the two-week spending measure. Leadership indicated that there would be enough time to make changes to the stop-gap bill if they wanted to, Meadows said. ... Link to the full article to read more