Freshman Rep. Brandon Williams, a Syracuse-area Republican, says GOP colleagues on Capitol Hill who want to use a government shutdown as a “tool” do not have a “very good grasp of the history of how this place works.”

With the Oct. 1 funding deadline fast approaching, Williams said Friday he believes lawmakers will ultimately be able to keep the government open.

This week, however, infighting among House Republicans forced leaders to forgo a vote on a defense spending bill. Other appropriations bills remain in limbo, all with just two weeks to go until funding dries up.

“I hear a lot of personal comments go back and forth inside my own party,” Williams said. “That concerns me a lot because this is not a personal or personality issue. This is the job that we're sent here to do.”

Across Capitol Hill in the Democrat-led Senate, lawmakers have managed to advance several spending bills on a bipartisan basis. They will ultimately have to be reconciled with whatever the GOP-led House passes.

House Republicans are reportedly eying a short-term budget plan to keep the lights on temporarily. But a push to include various immigration provisions is likely to be rejected in the Senate.

Williams said he “shares” the concerns of his colleagues who worry about spending too much and taking on “too much debt.”

“We have to get back to regular order and passing our appropriation bills and controlling our spending, but shutting down the government is not the right way to do it,” he said.