Head of Freedom Caucus says Trump's wall funding can wait to avoid government shutdown

During his campaign, Trump said Mexico would pay for the wall

Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC) speaks at Capitol Hill (Getty Images)

Republicans don’t appear to care as much about prioritising the construction of a border wall as Donald Trump.

Mark Meadows, the chair of the Freedom Caucus – a group of 31 conservative hardliners in the House of Representatives – said he and many of his members want to avert a government shutdown, even if Congress provides no funding to build a wall along the US’s southern border.

“In talking to a number of my members, if there was a vote for a continuing resolution next week that did not include border wall funding, the majority of those members would be supportive of that,” Mr Meadows said in an interview on ABC’s “Powerhouse Politics” podcast.

Government funding will run out at the end of September, and Congress is reportedly looking to put forth legislation – a continuing resolution – that will keep the government running through at least the rest of 2017.

At a rally in Phoenix last week, Mr Trump suggested that he would allow a government shutdown to happen if Congress does not provide funding for his oft-promised wall. During his presidential campaign, Mr Trump said Mexico would pay for the barrier along the border.

“Believe me, if we have to close down our government, we're building that wall,” Mr Trump declared to his supporters in Phoenix.

But a government shutdown could be a disaster for Republicans.

“I don't think a government shutdown is necessary and I don't think most people want to see a government shutdown, ourselves included,” House Speaker Paul Ryan said last week.

Republican Senator Jeff Flake, a longtime critic of Mr Trump, has thrown punches at the border wall proposal.

“This notion of a 2,000-mile wall has always been just – for anybody who spends time on the border – just a bit, you know, out there,” the Arizona senator said.

The President taunted Mr Flake in Phoenix, saying he was “weak on borders, weak on crime”.

“My position is, I work with the president,” Mr Flake said in an interview with an ABC affiliate. “Vote with the president when I think he’s right, and I oppose him when I think he’s wrong.