When the margins to keep the U.S. government funded were thin, Rep. Tim Burchett reversed course on his long-held views about government spending after pressure from the White House and Republican leadership.
The Knoxville Republican on March 11 voted for a stopgap spending bill to keep the government funded until Sept. 30.
“I voted to keep the government open so that President Trump, his cabinet, and my colleagues and I can continue down the path of limited government,” Burchett said in a statement, adding the bill “doesn’t touch Medicare or Medicaid.”
Burchett told Knox News in September 2024 after voting against a different stopgap bill, called a continuing resolution, he “doesn’t support continued resolutions” and had never voted for one in his six years in Congress.
And it’s not the first time pressure from President Donald Trump has persuaded Burchett to change course since Trump’s inauguration in January.
On Feb. 25, Burchett supported House Speaker Mike Johnson’s budget plan after saying earlier he planned to hold out for deeper spending cuts. His support of the budget blueprint marked a sharp departure from his opposition to raising the debt ceiling. Burchett originally said the spending cuts laid out in the blueprint weren’t enough.
In both cases, Republican leadership couldn’t afford to lose more than one Republican vote. Rep. Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican, announced his intention to turn down both bills days before the votes. One Democrat, Jarden Golden of Maine, supported the continuing resolution. The rest of the 217-213 vote was along party lines.
Burchett told CNN’s Kaitlin Collins on March 10 he hadn’t decided how he would vote the next day, but defended reasons to support the continuing resolution that didn’t have anything to do with keeping the government open.
“This is the first time since I’ve been in Congress that we are actually putting cuts in (the bill),” Burchett said. “I would like us to go back to pre-COVID spending, but neither party has the guts to do that. There’s savings in there and they’re making cuts in different departments, but the Pentagon always gets (more money).”
He went on to tell Collins that Republicans wouldn’t bear the weight of a shutdown in the polls in 2026. In fact, he said, Tennesseans support a government shutdown.
“A lot of people are saying ‘Shut it down,'” he said.
Though not fazed by the impacts a government shutdown would have on East Tennesseans, Burchett reversed course on his stated views of continuing resolutions after pressure from members of Republican leadership.
Vice President JD Vance met with House Republicans March 11 and told Republicans they would take flack from voters for a government shutdown, Politico reported. Republicans have the majority and could keep the government open without any Democratic support.
There’s no telling what Burchett would have faced had he tanked the continuing resolution, but the ongoing feud between Trump and Massie could be an indicator.
Trump promised to “lead the charge” to oust Massie in the 2026 Republican primary after Massie announced he was against the bill. In the end, Massie stuck to his guns and voted against the continuing resolution.
“Someone thinks they can control my voting card by threatening my re-election,” Massie posted on X March 11. “Guess what? Doesn’t work on me. Three times I’ve had a challenger who tried to be more MAGA than me. None busted 25% because my constituents prefer transparency and principles over blind allegiance.”
Allie Feinberg reports on politics for Knox News. Email her: allie.feinberg@knoxnews.com and follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, @alliefeinberg.
