Reaction & Commentary
House Republican leaders are rallying GOP lawmakers around a plan to enact a broad swath of President Donald Trump’s agenda, after the legislation was passed by the Senate in the early hours of Saturday morning.
“More than a year ago, the House began discussing the components of a reconciliation package that will reduce the deficit, secure our border, keep taxes low for families and job creators, reestablish American energy dominance, restore peace through strength, and make government more efficient and accountable to the American people. We are now one step closer to achieving those goals,” Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and his top lieutenants wrote to House Republicans.
“Today, the Senate passed its version of the budget resolution. Next week, the House will consider the Senate amendment.”
Congressional Republicans are pushing a conservative policy overhaul via the budget reconciliation process. Traditionally used when one party holds all three branches of government, reconciliation lowers the Senate’s threshold for passage on certain fiscal measures from 60 votes to 51.
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President Donald Trump helped get House Republicans’ budget bill over the line in February, and backed the Senate version this week (Getty Images)
As a result, it’s been used to pass sweeping policy changes in one or two massive pieces of legislation.
Senate Republicans passed a framework for a reconciliation bill just after 2 a.m. ET on Saturday, after hours of debate and votes on amendments to the measure.
It’s similar to the version House Republicans passed in late February; but mechanisms the Senate used to avoid factoring in the cost of extending Trump’s 2017-era tax cuts as well as a lower baseline for required federal spending cuts has some House conservatives warning they could oppose the bill.
The Senate’s version calls for at least $4 billion in spending cuts, while the House’s version mandates a floor of $1.5 trillion to $2 trillion.
Both bills also include Trump priorities on border security, energy, and new tax policies like eliminating penalties on tipped and overtime wages.
“If the Senate’s ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ budget is put on the House floor, I will vote no,” Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, wrote on X.
“In the classic ways of Washington, the Senate’s budget presents a fantastic top-line message – that we should return spending back to the pre-COVID trajectory (modified for higher interest, Medicare, and Social Security) of $6.5 Trillion, rather than the current trajectory of over $7 Trillion – but has ZERO enforcement to achieve it, and plenty of signals it is designed purposefully NOT to achieve it.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a Republican from South Dakota, speaks during a news conference (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
But House GOP leaders insist that the Senate’s passage of its framework simply allows the House to begin working on its version of the bill passed in February – and that it does not impede their process in any way.
“The Senate amendment as passed makes NO CHANGES to the House reconciliation instructions that we voted for just weeks ago. Although the Senate chose to take a different approach on its instructions, the amended resolution in NO WAY prevents us from achieving our goals in the final reconciliation bill,” the letter said.
“We have and will continue to make it clear in all discussions with the Senate and the White House that—in order to secure House passage—the final reconciliation bill must include historic spending reductions while protecting essential programs.”
House GOP leaders have pointed out that passing a framework is just the first step in a long process, one that just lays out broad instructions for how money should be spent.
Now that similar frameworks have passed the House and Senate, the relevant congressional committees will work out how to achieve the final reconciliation policy goals under their given jurisdictions.
“We have made it clear the House will NOT accept nor participate in an ‘us versus them’ process resulting in a take it or leave it proposition from the Senate,” House leaders warned.
“Immediately following House adoption of the budget resolution, our House and Senate committees will begin preparing together their respective titles of the reconciliation bill to be marked up in the next work period.”
The letter reiterated Johnson’s earlier goal of having a bill on Trump’s desk by the end of May.
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House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, called the Senate’s resolution “unserious and disappointing,” noting it only mandated $4 billion in “enforceable cuts.”
He vowed to work with congressional leaders to find the best path forward, however.
“I am committed to working with President Trump, House leadership, and my Senate counterparts to address these concerns and ensure the final reconciliation bill makes America safe, prosperous, and fiscally responsible again,” Arrington said.
