Jason Smith confident no government shutdown this week

With a federal government shutdown looming Saturday, Sept. 30, Southeast Missouri congressman Jason Smith — appearing on CNBC's "Squawk Box" program Monday, Sept. 25 — expressed confidence House Speaker Kevin McCarthy can push through a stopgap continuing resolution to keep Washington functioning.

"Don't count Speaker Kevin McCarthy out," said Smith, who has represented 28 Southern and Southeast Missouri counties since 2013 and is chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. "People thought (McCarthy) would never become speaker. He went through 15 rounds and became speaker. They said we would never pass the debt-limit increase, (but) in fact, we not only passed it with just Republican votes originally, we also went to an agreement that led to the largest rescission package in the history of our country, and the largest cut in spending in the history of our country, along with the most substantial reforms to work requirements for welfare programs in two decades. Speaker McCarthy has been able to deliver with a very razor-thin majority, so don't count him out."

Smith also told CNBC he believes McCarthy will survive a procedural effort to remove him as House leader.

"(McCarthy will) absolutely be able to keep his speakership," said Smith, an acknowledged backer of the California Republican. "Clearly, the two to three individuals who have been in the news never have voted for Kevin McCarthy and they haven't gotten over the fact that he is speaker of the House. Democracy can get messy publicly when we air our differences publicly. There is definitely common ground on a lot of spending proposals if we can secure our border and if we can create a commission that looks at long-term spending."