Rep. Mike Flood (R-Neb.), the newly elected chair of the Republican Main Street Caucus in the House, is gearing up for the next big fight in Congress: How to fund the government before the Sept. 30 deadline, preferably while avoiding a stopgap measure.

“I’m giving voice to a caucus of people that are reliably there to do the right thing, and a large number of appropriators. Why serve on [the] Appropriations [Committee] if we’re going to govern with CRs?” Flood said in an interview Wednesday, referring to a continuing resolution (CR) to fund the government at current levels. “And why live under the Biden White House’s priorities?”

Flood was elected chair of the Main Street Caucus earlier this month after Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.), who had been the group’s chair since 2023, stepped down as he ramps up a gubernatorial run. Before joining Congress in 2022, Flood was the Speaker of Nebraska’s state Legislature and founded what is now one of the largest media operations in Nebraska.

The government funding fight will be Flood’s first test in his new role.

Congress in March approved a measure to extend government funding at levels set during the Biden administration, with leaders arguing it would give more time for the new Republican trifecta to hash out funding details.

Time is running short, though. The House, which is out until September, has approved just two of 12 regular appropriations bills. Chatter is growing about a continuing resolution, possibly even a full-year measure that does not increase spending a proposal that House Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Harris (R-Md.) signaled he is open to.

“I actually hate the idea of talking about a CR,” Flood countered, noting that there are many members of the House Appropriations Committee in his group.

“We can still arrive at a final spot, and I would think it’s in the Democrats’ best interest to find common ground with us. Because if we end up in some kind of a government shutdown situation, their nemesis, President Trump, has pretty broad powers as it relates to federal spending when Congress fails to do its job,” Flood said.

Also hanging over the funding process is the threat of White House budget chief Russell Vought eyeing “pocket rescissions,” or a request to claw back funding so late in the fiscal year that funding expires before Congress can act.

Asked about that gambit, Flood pointed to Congress’s power of the purse.

“Our Constitution isn’t designed to have the executive branch controlling spending. It’s designed to have the Congress do it. And why sign up for this job if you don’t want to do that work?” Flood said.

The Main Street Caucus is made of self-described “pragmatic” Republicans, with members ranging from blue-state moderates to deep-red district conservatives. Stylistically, it draws a stark contrast with the confrontational, no-holds-barred Freedom Caucus. 

But despite garnering less attention as its members veer toward institutional responsibility, Main Street, which comprises 83 members, has emerged in the last few years as a key behind-the-scenes force in the House Republican Conference.

Over the first half of this year, that meant being deeply involved in crafting the “big, beautiful bill” of President Trump’s tax cut and spending priorities. 

“As it relates to protecting Medicaid, I think we were a key voice at the table,” Flood said about the group’s involvement. “The president wanted to protect Medicaid. We wanted to protect Medicaid.”

The group pushed hard for the inclusion of the $50 billion rural health fund that will distribute funds across states with the intention of protecting rural hospitals threatened by reforms and cuts to Medicaid in the megabill.

The race is now on to fill the Main Street Caucus’s open vice chair role, which Flood previously held and there is ample interest in the position. The contenders for that position so far, Flood said, are Reps. Laurel Lee (R-Fla.), Chuck Edwards (R-N.C.) and Nick LaLota (R-N.Y.), with a caucus election set for Sept. 3.

Flood said the interest in the caucus’s vice chair slot shows how influential the Main Street Caucus has become. The group has grown from around 50 members when Flood joined Congress in 2022 to more than one-third of the GOP conference. 

There are regularly 50 or 60 members at its weekly meeting, Flood said which often features White House officials like Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr. White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller is slated to visit the group soon as well.

“We have leaders that are going to make a real imprint on the future of Congress,” Flood said. “My goal is to continue what Dusty did and lift up our members to put all of us in a position to be engaging on every corner.”