I have a new item over on the home page on budget negotiations among the House Republican conference. Thus far, conservatives have largely been a hard “no” on leadership’s budget, but in a closed-door meeting this morning, Freedom Caucus member Andy Harris made a pitch that’s helping many in the group move toward compromise:

Harris took the microphone and laid out the vision that many conservatives increasingly believe could get them to support the October framework, giving leadership the 218 votes it needs to pass the budget: While maintaining that topline figure, Republicans could embed entitlement cuts into the budget, and strip out that spending in each appropriations bill.
“People have always been focused on the wrong number in this debate,” says Budget Committee member Tom Cole. “The real problem is entitlement reform. I respect folks that are worried about spending money. I consider myself a deficit hawk. But we did make a deal.”
And according to both Gibbs and a leadership member inside the room, Harris’s pitch generated excitement. “It seems to be the best chance at compromise,” the member says.

Several conservatives, though, are standing firmly against leadership’s $1.07 trillion spending figure. And now, they’re facing even more pressure from outside groups to stay there: in the next two weeks, the Heritage Foundation will drop its own budget blueprint with a topline figure of $990 billion.

The House is in recess for the next week, so my updates might be few and far between. But we’ll expect serious movement starting February 22. As ever, stay tuned to National Review for the latest.