Story highlights The government is scheduled to shut down on Friday

Democrats are threatening to withhold their votes over immigration policy

(CNN) The House Freedom Caucus isn't making it easy for Republican leaders to keep the government funded.

Just hours after House Republican leaders planned to press ahead on a plan to try to keep the government open without their Democratic colleagues in the House, conservatives in their own ranks told reporters they believed the votes weren't there to pass a bill with just Republicans.

"Currently, just based on the number of 'nos' and 'undecideds' in the Freedom Caucus, there's not enough support to pass this with GOP-only votes," House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows told reporters.

Republican leadership briefed their conference Tuesday night on a plan that would keep the government open until mid-February, fund the Children's Health Insurance Program for six years and delay key Obamacare taxes.

That plan, Meadows argued, didn't do enough to give assurance to the military. Meadows said Tuesday night that the House Freedom Caucus either wanted to see a one-year defense funding bill attached to the short-term continuing resolution -- a nonstarter when the caucus pushed for it in December -- or wanted to see Republican leaders include more funding of defense anomalies.

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