Americans are "fed up" with one short-term government spending bill after another, House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows said Thursday, and so is he.
"We were negotiating late last night, and you're right, the American people are fed up with just one short-term answer after another," the North Carolina Republican told MSNBC's "Morning Joe."
"I'm fed up with it. I believe that as we start to look at this, the most critical thing is, at what point are we going to go ahead and address the critical issues?"
Republicans are divided on a stop-gap measure, expected to come up for a vote on Thursday to extend federal spending into mid-February. The measure would re-authorize funding for the Children's Health Insurance Program while scrapping some health-related taxes.
However, it does not include a fix for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, and Democratic leaders have threatened to reject legislation that does not extend protection to the nation's "dreamers."
Meadows told reporters Wednesday that he does not believe Republican leaders have enough votes to pass the temporary legislation, because of internal divisions, but he also did not rule out supporting the measure at that time, reports CNN.
On Thursday, Meadows told MSNBC that it's critical to continue to fund the military, and "not hold them hostage."
However, lawmakers can't "grow the size of the government more than we're growing the size of people's paychecks back home," he added.
"Right now, what's being contemplated is a 13 percent increase in the growth of government and that's unacceptable," said Meadows.
President Donald Trump, meanwhile, does not want a government shutdown, Meadows continued.
"I was on the phone with him last night," he said. "He does not want a shutdown; he made that very clear."
Good progress was made Wednesday night, but there are still not enough votes in the House to pass the GOP measure, said Meadows.
"It's critically important we make some decisions and start running the government like you would your household or a business," he said. "Long-term planning makes for good solutions."
However, Meadows said he does not see DACA being part of the stopgap bill, but Trump does want a solution to the issue.
"He wants to make sure that we not only address this issue of the DACA recipients, but in addition to that, add a merit-based immigration system," said Meadows.
"There won't be an answer today but I do believe both conservatives like myself and some that are perhaps moderates and Democrats can find a way to address this and make sure we have a secure border and address this issue."
He said he does believe that DACA recipients will end up being protected, if measures are also taken to meet Trump's demands on border security, chain migration, and the Diversity Visa lottery.
"I know I've talked to more Democrats and moderate Republicans in the last 72 hours than I have in the last 72 days," said Meadows. "It's critically important we get it across the finish line."