(CNN) - House GOP leaders are considering a move that would try to force a vote on a huge government spending bill caught up in the fight over the payroll tax cut extension, according to two Republican members.
In a closed door House Republican conference meeting Wednesday, House Speaker John Boehner floated the option of not waiting for Democrats to sign off on a final agreement between the House and Senate on the measure.
Instead, House GOP leaders are discussing combining the spending bills for various government agencies into a single package and having a House vote on Friday. They would then send it to the Senate and attempt to force Democrats to vote on it, or be held responsible for a potential government shutdown. The current government funding measure expires Friday.
Florida Republican Rep. Tom Rooney said leaders have not decided on that course, but are still determining whether they could get 218 Republican votes to pass it – assuming they are unlikely to get much Democratic support. Rooney said GOP leaders also discussed passing a short term funding measure to keep the government funded as negotiations continued, but he told reporters, "I don't sense much love for that. It's another option."
Another Florida Republican, Rep. Allen West, said he supported the idea of the House moving ahead with its own spending bill package so federal agencies would be funded.
"We can't wait," West told CNN.
After the meeting, Boehner insisted that Republican and Democratic negotiators worked out a deal on the government funding bill, but that Senate Democrats are holding action on that measure hostage to negotiations on the payroll tax cut bill.
"It's pretty clear to all of us that President Obama and Senator Reid want to threaten a government shutdown so they can get leverage on a jobs bill because the United States Senate can't pass one," Boehner said.
In order to hold a Friday vote on any spending bill, GOP leaders would need to file the bill by midnight Wednesday.
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