Group of House conservatives unveils demands to support spending bill and avoid shutdown

abcnews.go.com:

House conservatives in a group known as the Freedom Caucus have unveiled a list of demands they want included in a stopgap spending measure to keep the federal government running after the end of September

WASHINGTON — House conservatives in a group known as the Freedom Caucus have unveiled a list of demands that they want included in a stopgap spending measure to keep the federal government running after the end of September.

It's a smorgasbord of non-starters for the Democratic-controlled Senate and the White House, signaling the challenges House Speaker Kevin McCarthy will face next month to get a bill passed in the House without alienating a sizeable share of his conference.

Historically, members of the Freedom Caucus rarely support short-term spending bills to keep the government open, but with Republicans holding just a five-seat majority in the House, they have significant leverage over the agenda. Still, McCarthy will likely need votes from Democrats to pass a short-term funding measure than can also get through the Senate and be signed into law.

Among the demands from the House Freedom Caucus:

—Spending levels below the top-line numbers that McCarthy had agreed to with President Joe Biden as part of a bill to increase the nation's debt ceiling.

—Inclusion of a bill that aims to build more wall at the southern border and restrict asylum for those seeking to remain in the U.S. for fear of persecution or harm.

—Addressing what they call the “unprecedented weaponization of the Justice Department and FBI" to conduct political “witch hunts.”

—And opposing any “blank check for Ukraine." The White House has asked Congress to provide more than $13 billion in emergency defense aid and an additional $8 billion for